Sacrifice and Subjugation
by MetalDargon
Summary: Not just anyone can be the Champion. But what determines whether or not someone has the potential? How does one truly prepare for the responsibility? In a world fraught with danger both near and far, a boy pursues the answers to those questions. But the Pokemon League is a brutal institution, pushing trainers to their limits both mentally and physically. Only the strong succeed...
1. Chapter 1: Upheaval

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters written about in this fic are based upon the fictional characters created by Pokemon and its affiliated companies, and the story is not written for profit. I have also taken some inspiration from fanfics written by L. Lamora, Crukix, and Digital Skitty, so a very big thank you to them.

Author's note: Hey everyone, this is my first fic. Please review so that I can improve my writing, but go easy; no one gets it perfect in the beginning. Well, welcome to my mind…. Let it consume you.

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A crowd roars in the distance while I sit in a comfortable red-cushioned chair. I have been here many times before, a state of unabated and unadulterated suspense and anticipation. Despite the numerous times I have found myself here, the elevated tension has never lost its seductive hold over me.

I have come a long way to prove that not only am I the best, but also that my pokemon are as well. While I sit in rapt suspense, my mind wanders to the beginning. It seems like so long ago…

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I grew up in Viridian City in the years following 2055. At the time of my birth, my family was one of the wealthiest families in the Viridian province. My father, Patrick MacAfee, was a Rapidash breeder, and his prized stallions were some of the most coveted racing steeds in Kanto, due to their expertly-bred characteristics of speed and stamina. His ranch, MacAfee Fire Grounds, was known far and wide and allowed our family a level of fame and prestige.

Due to his knowledge of the ferocity of those beasts, even when tamed, my father denied his only son the opportunity to pursue a life as a pokemon trainer at the normal age of fifteen. All of my attempts to persuade him otherwise ended in failure. "People die every day because they underestimate the power and overestimate the loyalty of pokemon," he would say. PokeAdvocates and marketing companies portrayed pokemon as cute and loyal creatures, but a wise person would look past the misleading caricatures and be wary of them in the wild. Pokemon are feral animals; they have to survive in a world where predator and prey constantly become stronger.

The remarkable traits of pokemon are their ever-growing strength, their adaptive power, and their breeding traits. The more powerful a pokemon becomes, the more powerful its offspring would be upon birth. This is how the young can survive in notoriously dangerous environments like Cerulean Cave. For example, a generically leveled 20 Rhydon's offspring would be weaker than a Rhyhorn birthed by a generically leveled 30 Rhydon. Furthermore, the stronger a trained pokemon grows, the more difficult it becomes to control, since most strong pokemon desire a trainer who can recognize and raise their potentials. The trainer needs to have a special bond with the pokemon to keep it from turning on him or her, and pokemon whose masters have passed away will commonly return to the wild.

One of the most amazing traits that pokemon possess is their ability to adapt. They will adapt to nearly any condition or situation with which they are met, including a world in which humans are becoming more prominent. To survive, pokemon evolve not only in physical stature, but also in mental acuity.

Throughout my studies in my youth, I learned that pokemon trainers began their adventures at the age of eleven over two hundred and fifty years ago. As humans multiplied and advanced technologically, pokemon evolved alongside them to survive and avoid being pushed out of their habitats by expanding industry. The evolution of pokemon in general took the form of size, ferocity, intelligence, and even submission. This allowed some pokemon to defend their habitats, slow the expansion of civilization, or integrate into human society.

As a result of the overall evolution of wild pokemon, a trainer's life became more difficult and dangerous. After a time, when the trainer mortality rate reached 60% in the first eight months of their journeys, the Indigo League began to raise the minimum starting age. The starting age rose steadily over the years, and it now stands at fifteen years of age. Alongside the minimum trainer age, pokemon trainer classes began to be taught in school, which were composed of simple wilderness survival studies, rudimentary pokemon biology, and pokemon recognition.

Pokemon are stronger and more dangerous than ever these days, but the tools with which people train them have advanced as well. The strength of a pokemon can be measured by high-tech scanners embedded in a trainer's PokeDex that gather information through a thin laser. Upon contact with a pokemon, the laser scans the subject's body and sends back a host of data which the PokeDex then analyzes. Based on a holistic analysis of the pokemon's age and physical composition, the PokeDex produces a rating for the pokemon.

Unfortunately, PokeDex analyses are still only generalizations and do not account for ancestry. Regardless, though, the analyses are very useful and have helped researchers track historic trends in growth and migration. The PokeDexes have shown the progressive migration of pokemon between regions, which has explained why it is not unusual to see pokemon from Johto or Sinnoh in the wilds of Kanto.

Perhaps it was a calling, but I have always been in love with pokemon. In fact, my first memory even involves playing with a newly born Ponyta colt. The sheer power that pokemon can employ, the ferocity they fight with, and the loyalty they can develop; watching the majesty of my father's many Rapidash never failed to leave me in a trance. I knew in my heart that one day I would become a trainer, despite my father's forbiddance.

During my youth, I spent the majority of my free time reading about pokemon and studying their types. I found _almost_ all pokemon amazing, except for such ridiculous creatures as Bidoof. Even one of the most pathetic pokemon - a Magikarp - could become one of the most dangerous monsters in existence, as tall as a building and capable of summoning devastating tidal waves and discharging powerful beams of energy to wash away and vaporize its enemies.

Above most other pokemon, towering in ferocity by comparison, I admire dragons. To own a dragon, you must be able to command their respect and lead them to glory, for they will never be satisfied as pets. Dragons are very rare, and to find a wild one usually spells death unless you have a strong team with which to protect yourself because they are fiercely territorial, powerful, and aggressive.

If the Rangers, gym leaders, Elite Four, and the Champion did not exist, humans would have fallen to wild pokemon ages ago. The Pokemon League and the Ranger Corps are the only protection of human establishments, and they work in tandem with the military, but apart from it. When it comes to protecting people and cities against rampaging dragons, wild or "domesticated," gym Leaders and the Elite Four have been nearly exclusively relied upon to take care of the threat. Knowing this, dragons hold a very special place in my heart as sources of wonder and respect.

Now I would consider myself a very lucky child, but life has its ironies. I grew up wealthier than most. As a result, I led a lavish lifestyle. However, real and reliable friends were hard to come by and expectations from my parents were high. I found release for my adolescent frustration and vigor in sports. Of the few human-only sports leagues that began to form around a hundred years ago, I participated in baseball and wrestling. My father was proud of me for taking the initiative in finding human sports in which to engage, but he was oblivious to my intentions. He was happy that I "took my mind off trainer nonsense" and played games where I was not at risk of getting ripped apart.

The truth is that I detested baseball. I refused to play any position other than pitcher and honed my skills to preserve that position. It was possible for me to become an excellent pitcher by practicing my throws almost as often as I researched pokemon.

I started playing baseball when I turned seven years old, so by the time I was able to become a trainer, I predicted that my throws would be fast and accurate. It was my own special method of preparing to make my dream a reality. With me as the starting pitcher, my team, the Viridian Beedrills, won four consecutive regional titles and placed 3rd at the Kanto finals when I was 15 years old. I can still remember that finals match….

It was a blazing hot day in Pewter City. My team had received the generous gift from the Kanto Baseball League of teleportation travel, which allowed us to arrive quickly and safely. The Pewter City Golems were a tough team that matched our score throughout most of the game. During the last inning, we were ahead by one point when the Golems were at the plate. I only had to end that inning without them scoring and we would win.

I brought the heat. One player hit a ball to center-right outfield and it was caught. I struck out the second batter – at the time I was at the top of my game, throwing 78mph consistently. The third batter hit the ball and ran to 1st base. The fourth and final batter hit the ball right back at me. I won the game by twisting and catching the ball, bruising my hand under the glove in the process. Despite the fact that I was not playing baseball for the glory of the game, I allowed myself to revel in our accomplishment. Even in the face of all the attention and praise I was given, I never lost sight of what I wanted or my reason for playing baseball.

Unlike baseball, I enjoyed wrestling. Like a pokemon trainer, a wrestler's struggle was one of relative solitude, and I relished the one-on-one challenge. I also learned that I could relate to pokemon in battles when I was competing against my opponents, giving me perspective. Furthermore, it kept me in great shape, and instilled in me a sense of discipline and sacrifice.

Despite enjoying wrestling more than baseball, I was not as talented at wrestling as I was in the latter. I managed to take second or third place occasionally at different tournaments, but first place had always eluded me. I was fine with it, though; I did not practice wrestling as often as my pitching for baseball, so it was not surprising that I was not the best among those who actually trained outside of the regulated practices. The end result was a lack of achievement worth mentioning.

My life progressed with me learning as much information about pokemon that I could and becoming adept at pitching, until it all changed during the year of my 16th birthday. All of my friends who wanted to become trainers had left school a year early and started their journeys during the previous year. I was so jealous of their new pokemon, though they all had trouble controlling them. Seeing them all leave to pursue their passions while not having the same opportunity resulted in me falling into a depression by the time another wave of students were about to become trainers. Around that time of the year, my Uncle Ray paid us a visit.

My uncle had been one of the few people I respected, since he encouraged me to follow my dreams. He had given me a Great Ball on my birthday the year before with the words, "One day you will be a great pokemon trainer. You will catch your first pokemon with this ball and you two will become the best of friends. You know how to throw, so don't hesitate when the time comes. And for the Legendaries' sake, don't tell your parents! They'll loose the Rapidash on me!"

The Great Ball now hung around my neck on a small chain. Poketech had advanced so much in the past hundred years, allowing for greater convenience and efficiency for pokemon trainers. Empty Pokeballs were capable of shrinking to the size of marbles, allowing for the easy transport of many in a small pouch. An occupied Pokeball, however, would only shrink to the size of a golf ball.

My uncle's arrival marked the beginning of his business venture. He told us that his goal was to become a pokemon breeder. He was not the most intelligent person in the world, but he was very perceptive. He had amassed considerable wealth by betting on horse races and trainer battles over the years, and he bought a substantial amount of land to the northeast of Viridian City, about five miles north of my family's home. He used most of the money to buy the most advanced technology in pokemon breeding.

He had encircled his land with the new state-of-the-art PokeWall. This technology allowed someone to link a pokeball to a larger area and keep the ball's pokemon trapped in the confines of the wall, instead of the pokeball. By inserting up to fifty pokeballs into the fence's control panel, the enclosed pokemon would be released inside the fence. The enclosure allowed the pokemon to move around inside, but they were incapable of passing beyond or damaging the fences. Furthermore, people could walk into the enclosure while the pokemon were released. After building the PokeWall, Uncle Ray planned to establish a breeding business for battler pokemon.

My uncle had come to my father to ask for some financial help with a special project he was working on that would make him immensely famous and my father was all too willing to invest; family is family. However, three weeks later I returned home from baseball practice to hear yelling coming from the parlor. Minutes later my uncle hurried out of the house and my father furiously climbed the stairs and proceeded to meet with my mother, Francine MacAfee, to vent his anger.

I overheard my father tell my mother in a rage that his brother had used the money my father gave him to purchase 27th League Champion Lorelei's championship Garchomp! Lorelei had recently passed away and the fates of her pokemon were to be decided by her husband. Apparently Uncle Ray had used my father's excellent reputation as a pokemon breeder to feign expertise and convinced Lorelei's husband to sell the Garchomp.

Although my uncle loved pokemon almost as much as I do, I believed that he was grossly overestimating his expertise. My father shared the sentiment and ranted to my mother, "He is going to lose the Garchomp or get himself killed! And I paid for it! He doesn't understand what he's getting in to!" Though it was a horrible time for my father and his brother, the prospect of one of my family members owning a dragon, and a championship one at that, only filled me with excitement.

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One week later, the championship Garchomp named Kira was delivered in her pokeball, and my uncle was finally able to start his business. His plan was to introduce Kira to the environment and let her grow accustomed to it for a few months before breeding her with a male Dragonair. The purpose of this tactic was to hopefully establish a congenial relationship with Kira to aid in her change of ownership.

As expected, Kira reacted negatively to the enclosure upon her release. Building on the recent loss of her trainer, she was also now trapped in a large, intricate cage. My uncle believed that he would not have to control her entirely since he had the PokeWall, which indeed made it easier. He supposed he could give her a large habitat in which to dwell and avoid trying to take the place of Lorelei. He also expected Kira to enjoy her retirement with male dragons to produce offspring with, which showed his lack of understanding about dragons. Uncle Ray knew the championship Garchomp's offspring would be exceptional specimens of her species because of how powerful Kira was, and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to breed them. Much to my enjoyment, Uncle Ray gave me the opportunity to watch Kira's initial release into the PokeWall.

Kira was enormous; putting my imagination of her to shame. Unlike normal Garchomp, which grew to be around eleven feet tall, Kira towered over everyone in the vicinity, easily four times taller than the tallest breeding trainer. Her head alone was as big as me, and her body rippled with muscles. Her dorsal fin had several scars running down its length and her tail was held out strongly behind her. She had large black and yellow eyes and her left claw was missing; a reminder of the epic battle with the previous Champion's Empoleon. When Kira was released, she looked around and let out a roar which shook the ground under our feet and tore up the earth at hers. Her largest teeth were longer than my forearms, and saliva was ejected forcefully out of her mouth as she bellowed, but she disappeared quickly in a burst of white light, and silently appeared ten yards farther back. Immediately after, as if she knew that attempting to destroy the fence was futile, she burrowed. It was a somewhat anti-climactic first meeting, to say the least.

Throughout the next few weeks, I would visit just for the chance to catch a rare glimpse of the majestic creature. Kira was absolutely beautiful; a perfect mix of power, terror, and beauty. She was a living irony at that point, though; a paradox. Kira was a trapped god, and she knew it. Her aggressive demeanor rendered the trainers incapable of approaching and her longest interactions with the world above the soil came when she was being fed.

Kira always knew when she was about to be fed, and would emerge from the ground just as the trainers were bringing in her meals. Through my readings, I had found that Garchomp could sense seismic vibrations deep underground and dig at a speed that rivaled Diglett, which explained how Kira could sense the feeders approaching and arrive so quickly.

From outside of the PokeWall, my uncle would talk to Kira and try to show her that he meant her no harm. It was foolish. As if that legendary mover of mountains considered him a threat. As if she even considered him a flea worth swatting. Kira was sad and pissed off. The only time she seemed to enjoy herself was during feeding time; those poor Mareep… She slaughtered them and tore them to shreds with ease. It was fascinating. My morbid curiosity, respect and, dare I say it, enjoyment, kept me watching as Kira mercilessly slaughtered and devoured the sparking and bleating Mareep. For some reason, I was filled with exhilaration upon seeing Kira pick up the Mareep with one clawed wing and bite them fully in half, barely chewing their heads, front legs, and upper bodies before she swallowed. The top of the food chain landed at her feet.

In a small way, I felt like I could relate to her. Like Kira, I was caged, though in a different way; it was a cage of expectations and limitations set by my parents. Like her, I had a dark and violent side, though repressed on my part. It was not as though I took pleasure in the pain and suffering of others; I took pleasure in the realized potential of a predator. An alpha predator was never to be underestimated or disrespected and I wanted to harness that power! I wanted to develop and nurture that power in a pokemon so that it was as much my power as it was the pokemon's.

It has been said that trainers share a symbiotic relationship with their pokemon, though a human's potential is much more difficult to realize. Only exceptional pokemon trainers who have trained a strong team have been known to realize their potential. Senses becoming more acute and enhanced mental and physical faculties are among the most common occurrences. However, some would say that there is a deeper, more profound change in a person who trains an exceptionally powerful team. History is full of mysterious people who lay the foundation for these kinds of rumors. Agatha of the Elite Four, who lived almost 300 years ago and had a ghost-heavy team was said to have been able to disappear in the dark or walk through walls, much like a ghost. Another example was the 1st Elite under the 26th Champion of Kanto, Theodore Blackfin. His team specialized in water-type pokemon and it has been said that he could swim as fast as a Sharpedo, hold his breath for an hour, and that his fingers and toes were slightly webbed.

The synergetic relationship between pokemon and trainer intrigued me. I wanted to rise above the frightened creatures that called themselves human, who hid from pokemon out of fear, and to tame the wild. I wanted to build a team worthy of fear and demanding of respect. I wanted to drive a team upwards until they were the best, and raise myself to their level in the process. Simply being near to Kira bolstered my resolve to chase my dream someday.

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Three months from then, Kira began to undergo a change. Instead of butchering her meals above the ground, she started dragging them underground while they struggled to escape. She started losing weight, too, ironically. After about a month of that behavior she was returned to her ball, removed from the PokeWall console, and taken to a PokeCenter out of concern for her well-being.

PokeCenters had come a long way in terms of technology and hospitality. They now had a separate area for trainers to sleep, they had a massive underground chamber in which trainers could release their pokemon, they usually had a free fitness center, and they had a cafeteria. However, the most amazing technological advancement was the medicine.

PokeCenters use a very high-tech machine that can heal most injuries short of decapitation, though the pokemon would generally be left with commemorative scars. The medical staff takes your pokeball and inserts it into a large red and white machine. It then hums for a length of time dependent on how injured your pokemon are before revealing on a screen every malady and injury the pokemon has suffered. It also emails that information to the trainer's PokeDex. If I were an engineer, I would explain the technology, but alas, I am a trainer with no expertise in medical engineering.

The generically named Nurse Joys all went by the same name for the sake of tradition. They were all required to have degrees in Pokemon biology, and had to have a minor in PokeMed engineering. Nurse Joy positions had their own college career path that paid well after graduation, which made the profession very desirable and competitive. Though historically the Nurse Joy position has been limited to the female gender, as a result of civil equality movements, men are now allowed to apply. However, they are not referred to as "Nurse Joy," they are "Nurse Perry."

The Nurse Joy helping my Uncle Ray found nothing physically wrong with Kira and sent my uncle away after a few hours, during which the entire staff of hired breeders searched Kira's underground tunnels for anything unusual. When my uncle returned, the breeders were all panicked because one of them had become lost in the apparent labyrinth Kira had made underground. It took three hours for the lost trainer to emerge, accompanied by another trainer with a Sandslash. My uncle and his staff then realized it was a lost cause to try and search the entirety of the tunnel system. After that, they started feeding Kira more, doubling her diet.

Curious about the tunnels, I talked to the trainer who had become lost and asked him how it was. He replied with, "I felt like I was in a nightmare. At one point I heard eerie noises and the sound of rocks being thrown, but when I investigated, I found no source for the noise. At that point, I thought a Haunter had found me and was playing tricks on me. I never want to go through that again."

Interested, I asked if he remembered where he went and he said, "I can't really remember, to be honest. I tried drawing a map so that I wouldn't get lost and we see how that worked out." I asked him for the map and he handed it over saying, "But don't you even think about going down there. You would have to pass into the reserve and Kira probably wouldn't take kindly to anyone invading her territory. Not to mention her own burrow!" At the time, I did not know what I wanted to do with the map, but I wanted it anyway. I took it and hid it amidst my possessions in my room.

Kira started gaining more weight after her new diet was instituted, returning back to her healthy state. My uncle had even made enough progress with Kira that she would let him into the enclosure without attacking him outright.

After another month, my uncle decided it was time to proceed with the next stage of his plan. He was several months behind schedule but he felt excited all the same. He booked a flight for Johto and took Kira with him to Blackthorn City. There, a man was breeding his Dragonite and had raised four Dratini into Dragonair, three of which were male and one of which was female. My uncle brought Kira with him to see which Dragonair would be the best match for her, not to return for approximately a week.

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One week later, Uncle Ray returned. When I opened the door to greet him, I was met with a disheveled and depressed looking man that vaguely resembled my Ray. By that time, my father and Ray had come to terms with his decision to take on Kira and breed her, and were back on friendly terms. From what I could gather from listening behind a door to their conversation, Kira had gone crazy when he released her, killing a Dragonair and almost killing the breeder before my uncle could return her to her pokeball. Kira had knocked everyone over with a violent earthquake and had already torn the Dragonair apart by the time my uncle could get ahold of her ball. She was advancing towards the breeder quickly before my uncle saved him.

My uncle had to pay for the Dragonair that had been killed and did not have enough money to make an offer for another, not that the trainer had enough faith in Kira to agree to a deal after that, anyway. Furthermore, the breeder wanted nothing to do with my uncle after that incident. Ray and my father then discussed what kind of cheaper pokemon he could breed to save up for a different dragon far in the future. At that point I stopped listening and went to bed.

That night was hard to remember in full. I remember waking up with my mom shaking my shoulders violently. I could smell smoke and burning wood, and I could hear yelling outside. My mother was crying as she urged me out of bed and hurried me out of my room. She took me quickly through the house to the back door where our car was waiting to take us to Viridian City.

When I asked my mother what was going on, she turned to me and told me that my Uncle Ray was dead; that when he had released Kira at the reserve, she continued her rampage and completely tore through the fence, a feat considered impossible. When she broke through the PokeWall, her pokeball had likewise been destroyed. Kira had essentially freed herself and continued her rampage, heading towards our house.

My mother told me that Kira had demolished my father's Rapidash ranch, which lay in her path toward our house, and that she did not know if any of my father's stallions were still alive. A Garchomp of Kira's strength could easily bring down the house using its seismic powers, so my mother had decided to flee towards the city. She told me that my father had headed in a wide arch around Kira's path of travel to try and rescue any of his stallions, which was why he was not present, but her demeanor showed me that she had little faith.

That night we drove to the city, not looking back. We called the police while we drove to inform them of the situation. When we reached the police station, an alarm was booming, and the Viridian City gym leader, Pierce Williamson, was waiting for us. He then contacted the current Champion, Bruce Volker, and informed him that Lorelei's Garchomp was rampaging. At that point, my mother took me into the city to find a safe place to hide.

From what I remember about that night, the League and Viridian City suffered great losses. Leader Williamson went to intercept Kira while he waited for the League to arrive, taking his own league pokemon team with him. Kira managed to kill the gym leader's Rhydon and Steelix before Champion Volker showed up with both the 3rd and 4th members of the Elite Four. Kira had rushed the Rhydon, and then basically burrowed through its body when she pinned it against the ground. She had then taken the fight sporadically above and below ground with the Steelix, eventually killing it with a hyper beam to its metal face.

Kain McGall, the psychic-based elite, and Shirley Manson, the fire-based elite, were the 3rd and 4th elites, respectively. When they arrived, they took her down after a bloody fight in which Bruce's Flygon almost died in a flurry of dragon claws and tail thrashing, and Shirley's Infernape lost a hand to Kira's uncompromising fangs. Bruce's Kingdra finally stopped Kira with a beam of ice that pierced her thick hide and flash-froze her heart.

The following morning was full of sorrow for the city, but for my family, it was so much worse. My uncle was dead. My father's business was destroyed; he managed to save Blazerunner, his 3rd most prestigious stallion, but all of the others perished. Our house had miraculously escaped the rampage, but we would not be able to afford our lifestyle for long after that, unless my father could find a way to rekindle his fire ranch.

My parents were immensely stressed and depressed. They sold my uncle's land back to Viridian City soon after to gain some income and the days were filled with my parents fighting about our future prospects. After a few days, I could not endure it any longer, so I looked for any way to escape. I grabbed the faulty map of Kira's burrow and snuck out to my uncle's abandoned reserve. The wall was demolished on one side, and the large sign that said "Ray's Breeding Grounds" was lying on the ground where the fence was bent outwards.

It was around two o'clock in the afternoon when I took a strong flashlight, a few water bottles, a few sandwiches, and some chips in my backpack, and headed down into the tunnels with my flashlight illuminating the way. I followed the poorly scribbled map before I came to the point where I believed he had made a mistake. He had drawn three branches in the road when in reality it had four diverging routes. I made the changes on the map and made my best guess as to which tunnel he had gone down.

As I walked on at a leisurely pace, noticing the time an hour later, I started hearing something I could not place. My first thought, thanks to the previously lost employee, was of a malignant Haunter messing with my mind. But then, as I went further, I was running my hand along the left side of the tunnel when it hit a patch of unusually damp soil.

Intrigued, I started brushing it away to reveal a covered entrance. The sound intensified. It was a loud growling with an occasional screech. I slowly descended on the sharp earthy incline, and after a few moments, the tunnel opened up. I shined my flashlight over the small cavern walls with trickles of water running down them, and the light eventually fell upon a creature in a soft earthy mound.

My jaw dropped and my heart sank. It was a Gible! Three times the size of a normal one! It was either about to evolve, or it was just a freak of nature. It was easily five feet tall – a little shorter than myself – and it looked emaciated. My heart sank because at the moment the light from my flashlight shined upon him, his eyes met mine and he let out a shriek, revealing razor-sharp teeth underneath bloodshot eyes. With a frightened yell, I turned and ran for my life, hearing heavy footfalls behind me.


	2. Chapter 2: Rapport

Chapter 2

Author's note:

Hey everyone, we have officially started. Not much to say other than I've changed some things around as far as traditional lore. Also, technology in this time period is going to be a lot more subtle than flying cars and whatnot. There are planes and cars but when you can get a psychic pokemon to just teleport you somewhere, transportation technology becomes less important. Much of the advanced tech revolves around pokemon. With that said and without further ado, on with the chapter.

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I could feel my heart pounding in my throat. Apart from that, all I felt was the most intense and blinding fear I have ever experienced. My senses quickly dulled. The walls were a blur and I could not hear myself running, though I felt my feet impacting the ground. All I could think was "run. Run. RUN. I'm going to die. I'm going to die." My flight out of the room was characterized by erratic scrambling up the inclined dirt and then wild dashing with occasional glances back. I was able to escalate past the incline and turn to the right before the Gible ran up the incline and into the wall behind me. I kept running past the point when my lungs started screaming at me, completely oblivious to my pain.

I probably would have died in those tunnels if two miracles had not occurred. The first miracle was that I somehow managed to make my way back to the entrance. My mind was on autopilot and I remembered which tunnel to take at each intersection while sprinting through, giving each fork in the road little thought. The darkness mixed with the monotonous walls lacking detail and the erratic light from my flashlight shaking over the passages in front of me would have surely rendered me lost, but against the odds, I managed to remember my way.

The second miracle, and also the most important, was a classic example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a miracle for me, but not for the poor little Diglett who happened to be showing its fuzzy brown head in the middle of the tunnel floor. Because of my frightened state, the instability of my flashlight, and the fact that the Diglett blended in perfectly with the brown tunnel, I did not see it. I tripped, kicking it in the head in the process and stunning it. In my terrified delirium, I did not even realize it was a different pokemon; I thought the Gible had tripped me and was about to devour me. So I did what any animal in distress would do in that situation; I started kicking. After a few seconds and about 15 kicks to the poor creature's face, I looked over to see what I was kicking and saw a bloody mess on the tunnel floor.

At that point my adrenaline slowed down enough for my sense of hearing to return, and I heard the Gible screeching and pounding down the tunnel. It was still hot on my trail and getting closer fast. I stood up and saw the Gible emerge from the darkness with the light of my flashlight. I started backing up to turn around and noticed its attention divert. The Gible's screeching stopped and I saw it dive at the deceased mole pokemon. I wasted no time continuing my terrified sprint out of the tunnels.

When I eventually emerged, I kept sprinting to the nearest tree and climbed it, knowing that the Gible's rudimentary seismic detection abilities could not sense me up in the tree. There I waited. It was around 3:30 in the afternoon and I waited until well after nightfall. The Gible never emerged, though I was sure that it knew where I had gone. During that time, aside from feeling scared, I reviewed my knowledge of Gible and the new information I had just gathered.

That Gible was enormous. For obvious reasons, I knew it had to be Kira's offspring, but the Gible was not delivered to my uncle in a pokeball. This would have to mean that she had given birth while on the reservation. Thinking about recent history, Kira started losing weight about two months prior, which would mean that she started feeding her offspring instead of herself. It might also explain why Kira went on a rampage when my uncle took her away from her baby for so long.

Gible are very clumsy, and more so when they are babies, which probably explained why it did not catch me earlier. The part that I could not explain was why it did not chase me out. After I accidentally killed the Diglett and the Gible stopped to eat, I do not remember hearing it chase me. I chalked it up to my detached psyche during my run, but the situation still did not sit right with me. The Gible could have eaten that Diglett quickly and resumed the chase but it did not, and that confused me.

I inwardly commended myself for the foresight of packing food after the ordeal because I was in that tree for several hours. During that time, I thought at length and by the time I gathered the courage to climb down, I had formulated a plan to catch the Gible. I grasped the Greatball around my neck as I ran home, growing more excited as I went. This was my chance; that Gible was going to be my first pokemon. The Gible's mother had just died and it was no more than 2 ½ months old, which gave me a unique opportunity to establish a need-based relationship with the dragon. Call it stupidity. Call it foolish. Call it whatever you want. I was going to do whatever it took to catch it.

I knew it would not be as simple as throwing a ball at it. Catching pokemon is a difficult endeavor, especially for more powerful pokemon. You have to throw a ball and it has to hit the pokemon for the digitalization process to trigger. Furthermore, the pokemon can break out during the first few seconds of capture if they are strong enough, so they need to be weakened beforehand. I knew I could throw well; that was not the problem. The problem was that the pokemon I was trying to catch was Kira's offspring! Beyond the fact that the Gible was a dragon, it was also birthed by a championship caliber pokemon. It would be difficult to pull off, but the Gible was a pokemon that I could respect as my starter, and it was one whose power I could be proud of training it to possess.

Unfortunately, as far as I knew, the dragon would not hesitate to kill me for food, simply for sport, or in a fit of emotional rage. In order to fix that problem, I would make sure it survived by providing food so that, at the very least, it would have a reason to let me near it. After that, I had the beginnings of a plan to catch the dragon. The first thing I had to do was to get a job, considering large amounts of meat were not cheap. I had been working with my father's ranch before Kira's rampage so that I could potentially take over when my father retired, but that was not an option anymore. In the end, I decided that I was not going to be picky about finding a job because it was essential for my plan to succeed. I started looking that very night, but I was not successful, and so I returned home.

I entered my house expecting to be chastised for making my my parents worry about me, however, instead I received no reprimand or punitive action. My parents did not even realize that I was gone for most of the day. My father had left for town to continue his search for a rebound business venture and to arrange his brother's funeral, while my mother had drunken herself to sleep in her bed at home. I felt alone that night and it was not comforting.

I went to bed and held back tears; tears for my imploding family relationship, tears for my father's misfortune, and, most of all, tears for my uncle. I held them back because those tears would not help anybody, myself included. This was what life had dealt me and I was going to take from it what I could.

I was awoken by another argument downstairs the next morning and I quickly dressed amidst the accusations of giving up and abusing the bottle. I knew our life had become much more difficult and I knew there were no easy ways to deal with it, but I could not stay and listen to them argue. I walked out of my room, down the stairs to the foyer and caught a glance at my mother sitting on a chair holding her head while my father stood above her, reprimanding her. I left quickly and made my way to town.

The road and grass had a layer of frost covering them and it was fairly chilly outside, so I brought my jacket with me. I walked the two miles to town in silence, gathering my thoughts, and decided to inquire about a job with a butcher for the potential to receive discounts on meat. Unfortunately, after I asked the butcher if he needed help, he replied with, "Sorry son, we're not hiring." _Well so much for that_. A job with the butcher would have been the best option, but fate had other plans.

I walked to several different stores but no one seemed to be hiring. It was then that I started assessing what skills I had which I could make money with and had an idea. I walked to the houses of several of the kids who played baseball with me. My idea was to offer my services as an off-season coach/trainer for prospective pitchers in return for a modest salary.

The first place I went to was the alternate pitcher who never got the chance to play because I never let him. He thought it was a good idea but he and his parents did not want to pay me. I then went to the alternate of the Junior Varsity freshman team and struck gold. The kid, Joseph McConnel, had the desire to play ball on a higher level and his parents had a bit of money. Joseph loved the idea and he persuaded his parents to pay me for my services. I asked for a modest salary with a couple Pokebucks over minimum wage, and I was even able to tack on a bonus if Joseph made varsity by the time baseball season started in six months, in April.

We started training that very day with a basic overview of the training regimen I would put him through and the exercises he would be required to perform alone after I left. It was a job that paid fairly well; 22 Pokebucks per hour. With practice twice per day during the week at two-hour sessions each and one practice per day on the weekends, I was making over 500 Pokebucks a week, which I assumed would be enough. I also had about 1100 Pokebucks in my personal account, so I had a good start.

After practice I headed back over to the butcher and actually looked at the prices of meat. I was astounded, having underestimated the price of meat. For half of a Mareep, I would be paying around 100Pb. I had initially planned on providing a diet consisting solely of purchased meat for the Gible, but after seeing those prices, I decided I would have to supplement the meals another way.

I had another idea and went to the trainer wilderness store to buy a composite bow. Firearms were illegal for civilians and only the military was allowed to use them. Even then, the Kanto military was small, so firearms were very difficult to find. The next best weapons to hunt with were bows.

The bows themselves had not changed much in the past few hundred years, save for a few add-ons you could buy, the durability of the materials, and power output. The ammo and carrying capabilities had also advanced. The bow I bought could collapse in on itself to fit into an area the size of my forearm, and the carrying case for the bow had a pouch for a box of ammo. The ammo looked like shotgun shells, except for when you gave them a small squeeze on each side, they elongated to a little over 2' and formed into arrows. They were made from a type of carbon metal alloy that was light and very durable, the arrowheads were the same material with a hollowed tip for poisons, and the feathers were made from Skarmory and folded in when collapsed.

I bought the composite bow, twenty rounds of ammunition, and a hunting knife, and then I went back to the butcher again and bought an entire live Mareep. I started heading back to my uncle's reserve, pulling the Mareep along, much to its annoyance. The Mareep was unruly most of the seven miles back to the reserve, which made it easier for me to grow excited for my plan. I was also a bit frightened, considering the amount of danger I was putting myself in. I went through every scenario I could think of in my mind, and then started to descend into the burrow.

Snag. I did not anticipate that the Mareep, an electric type pokemon, would refuse to go down into an earthen burrow. I mentally face-palmed and tried to pull the sheep down into the burrow with me. That only resulted in me receiving a shock when the Mareep got pissed, sending a small arc of electricity into my arm with a crackling _pop_. I had the radical idea of buying a pokeball, catching it, and then releasing it down in the tunnel but then dismissed it as a dumb idea since pokeballs were 100Pb and not reusable.

I sighed, knowing what I would have to do. I brandished my knife behind my back so as not to spook the Mareep and stood beside it. With as fast a motion as I could muster, I sliced Mareep's throat. I then tried to jump back immediately but the Mareep sent a larger arc of thunder at my chest which sizzled the air with a resounding _crack_ and knocked me out instantly.

I awoke a little while later with a headache and a singed t-shirt to find the carcass of the Mareep some feet away, with a trail of blood leading to it. It was as if it had tried to flee before finally succumbing to blood loss. My head hurt and my limbs were numb as I stood up and walked over to the deceased Mareep. I felt slightly horrified at what I had done, but I figured that being ripped apart by a baby dragon would be more traumatic for it in comparison. I would have to learn to deal with pokemon in general in a similar fashion, considering the wilderness has its fair share of dangerous monsters that would try to kill me. I would have to defend myself, which would involve potentially killing wild predators, so I put my feelings of guilt at the back of my mind and tried to pull the Mareep down the slope.

Immediately, I was happy that I did not buy a Miltank, as it would have been impossible for me to drag it down. The Mareep was about 95lbs – fairly difficult to move, but not impossible. I dragged the body down the tunnels to the spot where the Diglett had tripped me, and by that time, my muscles ached and I had developed a hatred for Mareep. I thought for a moment and decided to create a verbal call that I would issue every time I was near to let the Gible know it was me. Then I decided against it, and instead, I took my knife out and hit the wall three times with the hilt, then I stomped hard upon the ground three times, and then I let out a long whistle. I listened, took a few steps back, and waited.

Time passed, so I repeated the rhythm. That time I heard a screech coming down the tunnel so I turned and ran out. I did not want to take the chance that the Gible simply lost interest in me last time and would kill me if he saw me again. When I emerged outside I checked my watch. It said it was 4:00 and I did not want to go back to the house, so I set up some logs to act as targets and started practicing archery.

The first day was worrisome; archery was much more difficult than I thought it would be. I left after about two solid hours of practice with my arms hurting, my drawing fingers blistered, and my other hand burned from arrows sliding along its top from bad shots. I headed home, still hopeful for my future. When I arrived at home, my father was absent and my mother was waiting for me. "Where have you been?" she asked.

I replied with, "Getting away from here."

"Where have you been going?" she asked in return.

"I got a job. I'm teaching Joseph to pitch for some money. That way you and father don't have to worry about me." I made sure that I did not sound pathetic; I did not want pity.

"You shouldn't have to do that. We will be alright. You should also know that your uncle's funeral is in two days at 2:00" She gave a half-hearted smile.

"You don't have to lie to me. I've heard the shouting. Making it easier on you two was not the only reason why I got that job," I said with a critical look.

She then said with a sigh, "Please don't do anything rash. This is not easy for your father and I. We're trying to make things better."

My anger peaked and I blurted out, "By drinking yourself under the table!? The only person you're helping is yourself."

"Stop this! You have no right to criticize me! We've given you a good life, so show some respect! Now go to your room; I don't want to see you anymore tonight!"

With a glare, I walked to my room. Maybe I had been too hard on her, but all I felt towards her was resentment. I had no problem with drinking, but she was choosing to ignore me and her problems, leaving those whom she cared about to deal with those problems alone. I thought it weak and I resented her for it.

After I shut the door to my room, I hid my hunting gear in my closet in my baseball duffel bag. Hopefully any prying eyes would not look for evidence there. After that, I put some medicine on the burn on my hand and then I wrapped my fingers with athletic tape to help them heal. That would have to do.

I waited in my room for an hour before sneaking downstairs. My mother was drinking in the parlor again, so, with a glare, I passed it by and headed to the cellar. I needed some special equipment and salvaged equipment from the ranch was kept down there. I looked around for a few minutes but I could not find the one thing I needed: the Ponyta tranquilizer and tranquilizer gun. That complicated things.

I decided that there were three possible scenarios at this point: my father and his employees had salvaged some tranquilizers and sold them, they had not found any tranquilizers, or the tranqs were destroyed. I knew they were some of the first things that would be sold, but I hoped it was not the first possibility. I returned to my room, put on some warm clothes, grabbed my knife and baseball bat, grabbed a flashlight and my backpack, and then climbed through my window.

Maybe traveling at night to visit the destroyed remains of the ranch was not such a good idea, but I had three things lingering in my mind, compelling me to act without regard to my personal safety: tranquilizers cannot be purchased by underage people without a trainer license or breeder license, during the day I might get caught, and I simply did not want to wait. The third reason was trivial, but I did not necessarily care. I set out on the cold road to the ranch with only a feeling of purpose on my mind, instead of caution.

I rejoiced inwardly when I reached the ranch after five miles, for it was a little spooky outside alone. The ranch was in ruins, with burnt stables where the stallions had been kept. The ground was upturned in many areas where Kira's earthquakes had rent the ground apart, making the ranch look like a war zone. The night was eerily silent at the ranch, save for the occasional caw of Murkrow.

I felt an incredible sense of grief, for I had known every steed we owned. Their bodies had already been moved and buried out in the pasture, so I did not need to worry about coming across any bodies. However, I needed to do what I came there to do fast; it was not a place where I wanted to linger. I hurried to the storage shed, which also lay in ruins. After a quick look around, I gave up. _Of course the equipment shed will be empty. It's the first place they would salvage._

Walking around the ranch was creepy. It was getting cold but I felt the chill running down my spine more intensely than the weather. The ruined buildings creaked often and the Murkrow cawed in the stillness of the night. There was one other place I could look for tranquilizers: in the emergency kits inside the stables. More chills ran down my spine. I moved closer to the stables, being careful not to trip on the debris, and then I then heard a whinny.

I was so surprised that I stopped and waited. I then heard it again, coming from the Rapidash stables. I hurried forward. _How could my father have overlooked a Rapidash?_ _Maybe it had fled during the attack and wandered back… It might make things a little better for us if I brought back a breeding partner for Blazerunner. My father could restart his business!_ I crawled under a low, fallen beam to get inside the stables and the first thing I did was look for the emergency kit.

With an inner explosion of praise to any gods out there who could hear it, I saw the red and blue emergency duffel pinned under some debris. I cut it open with my knife, hearing the whinnying behind me somewhere. It was a disappointing find inside the bag, but not a total loss. The tranquilizer gun had been pinned and broken by the debris, there were multiple broken tranquilizer darts, and some of the bag had been burned. There were, however, three tranquilizer darts left and some pokemon potions.

I stashed what I could inside my bag and kept a tranquilizer ready, in case I needed to use it on the Rapidash. I walked around the stable and heard it coming from the very back. After taking a few minutes to navigate the upturned terrain and fallen debris, I came upon a closed stable door that looked slightly burned. It was dark on the other side, though, which was confusing considering Ponyta and Rapidash are perpetual light sources due to their ever burning manes of fire. This had to mean that the stallion was injured or dying! Why else would the light be gone?

I worriedly opened the door and came face to face with the largest pair of glowing green and white eyes I had ever seen. The chills racing down my spine intensified and only one thought passed through my mind, "GASTLY." Below the five-foot diameter eyes materialized a long slit that opened up into a wide and malicious grin. Regardless of what you know or think you know about pokemon, when you are surprised by one face to face, survival instincts take over and you cease to draw upon that knowledge in lieu of physical reaction. For example, I knew that Gastly are not as big as that Gastly appeared, I knew that they could project their image to appear larger and scarier, to paralyze their prey with fear, and I knew that they enjoyed messing with the minds of their prey. However, that knowledge did not keep me from feeling terrified.

Its grin intensified and opened wide, revealing sharpened teeth. Its pink tongue then lolled out, dripping acid which sizzled and steamed when it hit the wooden floorboards. I backed up spasmodically and hit the back of the stables, breaking through the compromised integrity of the burned walls before falling onto my back outside of the stables. The Gastly was above me in seconds, peering down upon me with its malevolent smile. It knew its prey had just made a fatal error and it was entertaining itself by watching its doomed prey lose all hope before attacking.

Its tongue hung over me and dripped acid onto my leg, burning through the jeans and scarring my thigh. Without thinking, in a fit of fear, I lashed out with the Rapidash tranquilizer and stuck the tip into the Gastly's tongue. It shrieked, which sounded like an odd and creepy mixture between an old lady's and young boy's scream. I crawled backwards as quickly as I could as it thrashed about and started towards me again. Right before it bore down onto me, though, its eyes drooped and it fell from the air into the ground. I leapt up and ran home as fast as I could without looking back.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I practiced with my bow and I trained Joseph during the next two days, trying to make some progress with the bow and hoping that the full Mareep was enough to hold the Gible over until I was paid for Joseph's two days of training. When you practice so much with anything, you become better quickly without realizing it. The changes in my archery skill were subtle and after a little while, I found that my shots were rarely missing the target and inching ever closer to consistent Tauros-eyes. Even after just three days of practice, hours and hours of repetition eventually started paying off. I was getting more and more accurate with the bow, and soon I would try to hunt. Until then, the Gible still needed to eat, and before I could take care of that, I had a funeral to attend.

There was not a single dry eye at the funeral. My uncle may have acted without thinking occasionally, but he was sincere and friendly to all whom he met, awarding him many close friendships. As far as I was concerned, I had lost a friend and a source of inspiration and motivation. After the funeral rites were pronounced, I laid some flowers on his casket, and then headed back home to change clothes. By the time I changed my clothing, my parents had returned and retreated into the parlor. After I stole a quick glance and saw that they were both sitting quietly with glasses of Scotch in hand, I left and headed into town.

Two hours later, I arrived at the reserve with a new Mareep. I tied the Mareep to a tree and retreated about a hundred feet. I could have used my knife to kill it again, but I chose not to for two reasons: I did not want to get electrocuted again and I wanted to practice killing pokemon with my bow. It was not out of a sick desire to try new ways to kill; I needed to practice with my bow if I was going to rely on it in the wild. To do that, I needed to exercise my abilities whenever possible.

The first arrow sank into the Mareep's haunches, causing its back legs to slump. It immediately started bleating and let out an arc of electricity towards me with a loud _crack_, but the distance between us was too far for its thundershock to hit me, so I notched another arrow, cursing that I did not finish it in one shot. The second shot hit the Mareep squarely in the chest, taking it down. With a sigh of relief, I walked over and retrieved the two arrows. When I cleaned them off in the Mareep's wool, I received small shocks from the static, and then I began the task of dragging it down into the burrow.

I arrived at the same spot as before to find it empty and the ground a little torn up. I lay the Mareep down and tapped on the wall three times, stomped on the ground three times, and then whistled. I immediately heard a screech and took off again. I knew that I would have to repeat this process multiple times before I would be even slightly comfortable with waiting around. Back to archery training.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Two weeks passed like this: every third day I would buy a Mareep to bring back after pitching practice with Joseph, then I would spend all of my free time practicing my archery skills. It was monotonous and tedious, but I could tell my skills were improving quickly. At the end of two weeks, I could consistently hit a Tauros-eye within 50 feet and I was fairly accurate at 100 feet. Then one particularly cold day, when I had killed a Mareep and had dragged it down to the feeding spot, I was given a frightening surprise.

After laying the Mareep on the spot, I performed the tapping/whistle routine, and instead of hearing a screech, I saw the Gible emerge from the darkness not 20 feet in front of me. Frightened, I slowly backed up about five feet, and then another five feet while the Gible moved up to the carcass, and just looked at me. I did not meet his eyes; that would have been very unwise. He stood over the carcass staring at me for what seemed like five minutes before tearing into the Mareep. I took that time to backpedal a ways before running out.

That event set the standard for the next few weeks. The Gible would always be waiting in the darkness where I could not see him, just outside of the range of the flashlight, and would then appear as I called. It was unsettling. The Gible was close enough to attack me if it wanted to, and I would probably not be as lucky as I was during my first escape. Luckily for me, he never tried.

With my archery skills showing promise, I started hunting, which allowed me to supplement the Mareep meals with an occasional Pidgey, Sparrow, or Sentret. They became scarcer as winter drew closer, but I was becoming more proficient at archery, rarely missing my target as the year progressed.

One day I decided to try something new. It might have been a little sadistic, but I wanted the Gible to get a taste of killing for itself. When I brought the Mareep into the reserve, I quickly removed the electrical bulb on its tail, which I had since learned severely handicapped Mareeps' electrical capabilities, and cut the tendons in its legs. I then dragged the bleating Mareep down into the burrow, until I arrived at the feeding spot. I called the Gible with the tapping and watched as he emerged.

It was at the moment when he emerged, that I decided on a name for him. I had figured out over the weeks that the Gible was male, and I knew that he was male for several reasons, according to the electronic articles I had read. The dorsal fin and bulbous horns on both sides of the head of males were more both narrower and sharper than those of females. The real giveaway was the coloration on the Gible's stomach. A male would have a darker shade of red than a female, and this Gible had a dark, blood red stomach.

The Gible had changed in the few weeks I had been feeding him. He had grown slightly larger and more muscular, though I was still taller than he. His scales had also darkened to more of a black like his mother, which differed from the dark blue of normal dragons of his species.

When he emerged from the shadows, stalking the crying Mareep with the light of my flashlight reflecting off of his black scales and his eyes giving a fluorescent glow, he looked to me like the angel of death. That was only reinforced when he leapt forward, latching onto the crying Mareep's head and biting it off before tearing into the rest of the body. On my way out, the perfect name for him hung in my mind: Azrael.

During the following couple of weeks, I started staying with Azrael as he ate, watching as he would devour his prey. After he finished, he would look at me for several minutes and then lumber off clumsily down the tunnel. _Progress_.

It snowed two weeks later. Viridian City generally received two-three inches of snow per storm, so the two inches that fell did not come as a surprise. Although there were not many Pidgey around this time of year, I had found a much bigger and better target. Stantler had been everywhere but I did not have the courage to attack one, given that they had been known to kill hunters with their psychic powers. Those abilities would be problematic, and therefore, I would have to study them and make every shot count when the time came.

After seeing one for the first time, I researched them more in depth to gain a better understanding of them. I found that they will choose to run before fighting, but they will fight when they feel that their lives are threatened. I also found that their horns are valuable for medicine, and the black orbs on them that channeled some of their psychic ability can be used for tranquilizers when ground up. Almost every part of them was valuable, from their use for food to their price in putting them up for sale.

The first time I hunted a Stantler could have gone much worse, which made me feel that it was a good experience. I had quietly followed footprints in the snow until I came across a solitary Stantler grazing on some grass that had not been covered by the snow. I notched an arrow and shot. The arrow sailed through the air and hit the Stantler right underneath its heart, missing the vital organ, but puncturing a lung. The Stantler went down after a few minutes of sending psychic waves to my head, which caused me to believe that I was in a boiling volcano, burning to death. That kind of trauma to my head could have been fatal if endured for too long, but it only lasted a minute or so, so I recovered quickly and found my ears bleeding. When I awoke from my trance, lying in the snow, the Stantler had finally succumbed to death's embrace, and I rejoiced in my accomplishment.

The Stantler was significantly heavier than the Mareep, but that meant there was more food for Azrael. As such, it took a long time to drag it all the way to the burrow, and then down into its depths, but once I did, I was rewarded with a squeal of delight from Azrael before he dug into the large deer. When Azrael was done, instead of walking away, he walked up to me. I froze and let him approach, making sure I did not make any sudden movements. It stopped about two feet from my face, opened its mouth a little, and then bit me on the shoulder quickly before running off into the tunnel.

I was left standing with a bleeding shoulder and a perplexed look on my face for several minutes, pondering what had just occurred, and I later came to the conclusion that it was an appreciative nip. More progress! I was able to make a lot of extra money selling the antlers and the orbs from the Stantler, almost matching a week's wages for each set of orbs and two weeks' wages for each set of antlers. This allowed me to afford more Mareep and also to have some money in the bank.

I was easily able to hide my shoulder wound from my parents, considering they had been busy too often to take notice of the things I was doing. Although I understood that they had responsibilities to take care of, I resented them both for ignoring me after spending so much time making sure that I could not follow my dream of becoming a pokemon trainer. Even though I was fairly self-sufficient at that point, my parents had a responsibility towards me, and I felt like they had simply forgotten about me.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The most progress between Azrael and I came on a Saturday in the middle of January when I arrived at the reserve to see footprints leading out of the burrow. Upon closer inspection, I found that the footprints were much too small to be Azrael's footprints, and they were heading into the burrow. They also seemed fresh, so I hurried down to the feeding spot, with a Pidgey in my hand, to find Azrael absent. I ran down the tunnel to where his little cave was, and started hearing two different pitches of screeching. I dropped the Pidgey and drew my bow, taking out four arrow cartridges before reaching the small cave and shining my flashlight inside.

The light from my flashlight shone upon Azrael cowering in a corner with a Sneasel dancing around him, lunging in and out with its claws. The Sneasel was leaving icy streaks where it sliced Azrael, which were especially effective against dragons. I notched an arrow and aimed it at the Gible's attacker. The arrow hit the Sneasel squarely in the lower back, and it turned around with a hiss behind its sharp feline teeth and started hobbling towards me, its bladed hands raised menacingly.

I notched another arrow and it let it fly, but the arrow sailed over the Sneasel's head and embedded itself in the opposite wall. My fear of this little monster was affecting my shots, so I quickly notched another arrow and took my time - what little I had left before the Sneasel reached me and gutted me - before I released it. The arrow sped through the air and hit the Sneasel right in the chest, and it fell backwards with a _thud_. I rushed forward and squeezed the last cartridge in my hand, making it expand into an arrow, and stabbed it down into the creature without using the bow. I then withdrew my knife and finished the job.

I looked up at Azrael, still in the corner and shaking. I took a step closer to him and he hissed, warning me not to come closer, so I backed up to the entrance and grabbed the discarded Pidgey. I then returned and retrieved all the used arrows from the dead Sneasel before offering the Pidgey to Azrael. He limped over after a couple minutes and I set the Pidgey down on the floor. I moved around to his side and looked at his wound, finding three red lines running down his thigh with icy particles stuck inside. I went back to the Sneasel and cut off its hands, and then I looked at Azrael and said, "I will be back soon. Stay here, if you can understand me."

Why I thought it was reasonable thing to say, I do not know, but I wanted to communicate with him and let him know I was going to help. I ran out, with the two Sneasel hands and continued on as fast as I could all the way to Viridian City. I arrived at a PokeMart, which had kept its name out of tradition over the years, heaving and breathless. I bought two basic potions and an ice heal, which took a chunk out of my savings, but it was worth it.

I then started running back. I am not sure how long the entire trip took, but then again, I do not know when I have ever run as fast before. I arrived back at the reserve and ran down to Azrael's den to find him curled up and shivering. I made the call at the entrance of the den so that I did not startle him, and then I walked over to him, took out the ice heal, and sprayed it on his wound. If I had not created what little relationship I had with him, and if he had been a little stronger, he probably would have bitten my head off. However, in his frightened and weakened state, he just screeched and glared at me.

The ice heal melted the ice particles and Azrael's body temperature started rising. I then sprayed the basic potion on his leg, quickening the healing. I am not sure how the creators of these potions were able to do it, but I always wondered why they could not make something similar for humans beyond using Chansey eggs, which would be immensely helpful. I then noticed the dead Sneasel still lying on the floor, went over to it, and grabbed its legs, dragging it over to Azrael.

He perked up before chowing down on the corpse, seemingly happy to wreak hungry vengeance upon his attacker. I then made a choice: I went over to the other side of the den and sat down against the wall. I waited there completely aware of the Gible's gaze fixed upon me. After an hour, Azrael must have realized I was not leaving because he stopped watching me and went over to the other side of the den, dug around until he created a nice bed for himself, and then lay down. During that time, I used my knife to clean off as much flesh from the claws that I could, leaving the bones and the claws, for the purpose of selling them later. I eventually fell asleep, having turned the flashlight off when I grew tired.

It would look like another foolish decision on my part for anyone looking in at the situation, however, I was worried about that dragon and I wanted to make sure that he did not have any other problems. I still had one potion left and I was prepared to use it because he was hurt. It may have been foolish, but it was one of the most significant bonding moments I had with Azrael, in retrospect.

I awoke some time later, still physically intact, and I could actually hear Azrael snoring. _Interesting. I had no idea dragons could snore._ I turned on my flashlight while pointing it at the ground, stood up, gathered my things, and then went over to the entrance of the den. I tapped out the call, hearing Azrael stir, and then shined my flashlight onto the ground in the middle of the den so that it wouldn't startle him.

I said, "It's time for me to go. Don't worry; I'll be back with food later." I then started walking out. I heard movement behind me as I walked down the tunnel but did not think much of it, though I kept alert. It was only when I was near the entrance of the tunnel, and I could still hear the movement behind me, that I turned around. Azrael had followed me to the entrance of the burrow and was eyeing me curiously. I continued walking up the slope until I was standing in the cold night air, at which time I checked my watch, finding out that it was 3:00 in the morning. If my parents noticed or cared, they would probably be worried sick.

I did not leave immediately though, since Azrael followed me outside. Instead I observed him as he looked around, snarled at the snow and let out a small jet of blue fire, melting the snow around him. I watched him wander around for an hour sniffing things, biting trees, and melting snow for about ten minutes before he finally waddled over to me. He looked at me for a few seconds and then bit me again on the same shoulder as the last time, drawing more blood. He quickly ran down into the burrow immediately afterward. I smiled and walked home.

I climbed through my window and went to bed after cleaning off the remaining flesh and blood from the Sneasel claws in the bathroom sink. In the morning, I received no lecture or recourse for being gone most of the night since my parents were busy again. At that point, I did not care as much, seeing as how this behavior had continued on for so long, and I would be on my own soon enough anyway. I walked to town for practice with Joseph and when I finished, I went to the PokeMart where I was able to trade three of the four Sneasel claws for three pokeballs. I now had three extra pokeballs, just in case I needed them, for when the time came for me to begin the next phase of my plan.

Throughout the next couple weeks, Azrael would venture outside of the burrow when I was present and explore the area while I practiced my archery. I would talk to him constantly, even if he could not understand me. He would also accompany me when I hunted, though I never allowed him to participate in the hunt, if I could help it, and the winter passed fairly quickly.

The snow eventually stopped falling, the temperature started rising, and Pidgey started appearing in greater numbers. My parents had sold our house for a smaller house closer to the city with a couple acres of land, and I had purchased a bike to help me travel faster. Both Azrael and I had grown a little, leaving me taller than him. However, the most significant change that occurred by the end of winter was that Azrael had started letting me touch him. He would allow me to run my hand along his fin, feeling the scales and ripples of his muscles, and I even suspected that he enjoyed it.

By the time the end of February rolled around, I was ready to initiate the next part of my plan. It was not going to be easy and there was a chance that I might get myself killed, but the risk was worth it. I packed my bag with the Rapidash tranquilizers, a first aid kit, and food before I set out for the reserve. When I arrived, Azrael was standing outside of the burrow waiting for me; our custom by that time was to go hunting for a few hours when I arrived before practicing my shooting. I stopped my bike, dismounted, leaned it against a tree, and took out my bag.

I walked over to Azrael after taking out a tranquilizer dart and pocketing the marble-sized pokeballs. I also unstrung the Greatball from my neck and pressed the button that made it grow to full size. I carried both the tranquilizer and the Greatball over to Azrael, who was watching me expectantly. I stopped a few feet in front of him and dropped the Greatball to the side before I walked up to him and ran my hand along his fin. I then said, "Don't think too badly of me. I think we have a mutual belief that we are partners, and I believe we will grow to overcome the world, but I'm the one giving the orders." As I said the last sentence, I plunged the tranquilizer into Azrael's arm.

I immediately jumped back and rolled to a crouch, Azrael screeched and turned on me with an angry, betrayed look in his eyes, and he took a step forward before faltering because of the tranquilizer's effects. I knew the tranquilizer was not strong enough to put him out, but that was part of my plan. I needed to _show_ him that I was in command; I needed to establish dominance. When Azrael faltered I jumped around to his side and caught his arm. I used his arm to pull myself around to his back, like I had learned in wrestling. I then hooked my other arm underneath his other arm and pulled them both as hard as I could.

Azrael was stronger than I, but he was also drowsy and weak from the Ponyta tranquilizer. He struggled to fling me off his back but I was able to hold on as he wore himself out. He thrashed for five minutes straight, and it reached the point where I thought I would pass out from the strain of holding on before he gave up.

After those five painful minutes, Azrael finally collapsed onto his knees, and I used what strength I had remaining to pull his arms together behind him and pin his face to the ground. I then bit his shoulder hard for effect as I held him down. Azrael struggled and struggled and I just held on as strongly as I could; I just needed Azrael to wear himself out. He tried burrowing but the endeavor was pointless without the use of his arms. He finally stopped after a few minutes but I did not let up; I was not going to take the chance that he was bluffing.

It turns out that my precaution paid off, for after half a minute, he vigorously renewed his fight. I matched his efforts and kept him down until I felt his muscles start to spasm. Sensing the sincerity of his weakened state, I quickly jumped off of him and scrambled to reach my Greatball. I then hurled it as hard as I could at Azrael's center of mass. The ball hit him hard and he burst into red and white light, before disappearing inside the ball. I watched at a distance with another pokeball at the ready as the Greatball squirmed and wiggled. After ten long, nerve-wracking seconds, the ball stopped moving.


	3. Chapter 3: Becoming a Trainer

Chapter 3

Author's Note: Ok so just to make this clear, I am busting these chapters out very quickly, but it's not going to be like that all the time. I will probably get one or two chapters out every week until my senior year of college starts. I'm also working on another story at the same time so sometimes, by some spark of inspiration, the other story will take priority for a few days until I want to write more for this one.

On another note, thank you Danmatt for your kind comments and welcome to the story.

On to chapter 3!

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I stood hesitantly for at least five minutes with my hair fluttering across my face in the wind. The sound of birds chirping, the cool wind across my face, the serenity of the grassy reserve, and the knowledge that I just caught a dragon felt surreal. When I finally concluded that I was not dreaming, I walked over to the blue pokeball lying in the grass.

I picked up the ball, noting how warm it felt, and admired it in my hand. A multitude of emotions flooded through my mind, giving me feelings of giddiness, excitement, and nervousness. _I caught Azrael_! The most difficult part of my plan was complete and now I was one step closer to becoming a trainer and following my dream. This oddly gave me some anxiety; it was one thing to plan and dream, but when the reality was there, staring you in the face, the future started to look daunting.

Despite my misgivings about the future, my excitement and happiness overrode the feelings of trepidation tenfold. There was much work to do now. I had caught Azrael and now I needed to start training him to obey me. Considering the fact that pokeballs make training pokemon much easier than without, I judged the prospects of training him slightly easier than catching him.

Pokeballs have advanced a lot in the past few hundred years. They now hold a holographic control panel that can only be activated by the owner's fingerprint. The pokeballs know the owners' fingerprints by having scanned the fingers of the last person holding the ball before it caught the pokemon. The holographic control panel is activated by the owner pressing a small indented button with the scanner, and the hologram shows what pokemon is inside the ball, the percentage of health they retain, if they have a status ailment, and what emotion they were feeling when they were recalled.

Pokeballs also have a GPS installed that shows the captured pokemon's location up to a hundred meters and they have a function that allows you to control where your pokemon appear when they are released. There are two settings with a directional starting point setting for both: The first setting releases the pokemon directly in front of you. The second setting allows a laser pointer to direct the release of the pokemon. To return the pokemon to its ball, all you have to do is press the button, and if it is within 30 feet of the ball, it is returned. If the pokemon is farther away, you have to hit the pokemon with a laser dot.

The Greatball would make training Azrael easier, but he was not going to be happy. My perceived betrayal was going to be fresh in his mind, but he would be groggy and weak, which would work to my benefit. I stood on the overhang of the burrow and released Azrael down below me with the second setting, choosing to have him appear facing me. As expected, he was pissed and clumsily tried to climb up the wall to attack me, so I immediately returned him. This was a trick to teach him that he needed to stay put. I released him again at the same spot and, once again, he tried to climb the side of the tunnel wall to get to me. Once again I returned him. This repeated four more times before he got the picture and paused where he was, glaring at me.

I started talking, "We are now a team, but I'm calling the shots. If you behave, you will be rewarded. I will help you grow more powerful than you can believe! I will help you become stronger than even your mother. And you will help me grow stronger as well. However, if you are disobedient and misbehave, we will have problems." Azrael continued to glare but he had settled back onto his haunches, showing me that he would not attack. I wondered if he could understand me, yet. I knew that most pokemon were capable of learning to understand the language of their masters very quickly, and I had been talking to Azrael as often as possible. While he had not shown much evidence of understanding me in the past few weeks, he did seem to be listening intently to me now.

"I don't plan on keeping you prisoner," I continued. "I respect you too much to treat you like a domesticated Growlithe on a leash, but you _will_ learn to behave. I will allow you to stay here and continue as we were, without confining you to your pokeball, if you behave. If you insist on acting up, I will not hesitate to put you back in." At that point I noticed that Azrael had replaced his glare with a look of curiosity. With that said, I moved around the top of the overhang and kept Azrael's pokeball at the ready while he watched me approach around the side.

As soon as I was about ten feet away from Azrael, I saw his muscles tense up as he prepared to lunge at me. I quickly recalled him and opened up the pokeball interface. I switched the release method to the first setting and directed the unruly Gible to be facing away from me when he appeared. I released him and immediately reached forward, jamming my knuckles into the spot between his torpedo-shaped bulb and his dorsal fin. I had read that those areas on the Gible family of dragon were particularly sensitive. It was similar to a Sharpedo's spiracle.

He yelped, whined, and spun around to face me before I returned him quickly, and then switched the pokeball to the second setting. I pointed the laser out about twenty feet and released him again. He let out an angry screech and charged at me. Back in the ball, setting one, jab in the spiracle, returned, setting two, and then released twenty feet away; rinse and repeat whenever he tried to attack me. It only took him three tries before he realized I was not going to let him win.

I was slowly showing him that I was dominant, _making_ him respect me. When Azrael finally calmed down after his third attempt to kill me, I stood there staring him directly in the eyes. His gaze did not falter so we stood, without blinking, challenging each other to see who would back down first. After what seemed like five minutes, his eyes blinked and fell, and then he huffed and turned away, and I could finally blink my dry eyes.

So I was going to be ignored; I could not say I did not see that coming. It was ok, though. Once he started getting hungry, he would pay attention to me. I had been taking him out hunting, but he did not know how to shoot an arrow, and I had made sure that he did not learn to hunt from me. He had not been taught how to hunt from his mother, since he was still a baby, and since I did not want him learning to hunt yet he was fairly helpless. I was there for him, to feed him, when he _wanted_ help from me.

Eventually he would realize that not only could I provide for him, but I would also help him help himself. Until then, he would go hungry. At the moment, it was early in the day for us, but I decided to leave, keeping him out of his pokeball.

I was slightly afraid that Azrael would take off, but I had the GPS to help me find him if he did. Besides, his home was the burrow and he would not leave his home.

That night, I thought about what I had to do. Gaining Azrael's trust was at the top of my list of to-dos. However, it would take a long time and a lot of bonding before Azrael considered me worthy enough to follow. I then started thinking about building a team, but Azrael was a handful and a half at the moment, so a new pokemon would have to wait.

I also thought of our communication "problem." He would learn to understand me but I had no way of understanding him. I performed some research on the pokemon trainer store website for translation devices and found that the prices were painful to look at. The first pokemon translator came with a complimentary trainer device, but the prices were still fairly steep. The devices were small computer chips that would be placed under the skin, behind the ear on both the pokemon and the trainer. Working with signals from the brain, the chip allows the brain to interpret the intended communicated meaning of both pokemon to trainer and trainer to pokemon. _Technology is awesome and incomprehensible to me_! Maybe someday I would buy translators for my pokemon, but that day would not come any time soon.

I rode back to the reserve after pitching practice with Joseph the next day, as per usual. With my help, he had become quite competent in the last few months and I hoped that he was good enough to make varsity since he was consistently throwing about 68 mph. I rode my bike, parked it one mile from the reserve, and then made my way down the path slowly and quietly. I was sure Azrael was going to try and surprise me somehow, since he had been so angry the previous day. On the GPS, it showed that he had not left the vicinity, so I kept my eyes open for him, scanning the trees.

When I had crept to about 1/6 of a mile from the reserve, I saw Azrael. He was hiding beside the path, between a bush and a tree and, because of his size, I could see his fin sticking up behind the bush. I stifled a chuckle, but slowed my pace, taking as light and quiet steps as I could manage so that he could not sense me approaching with his seismic capabilities. Those abilities were just developing, so it was possible for me to get behind him without him noticing me, and jab him in the spiracle. He screeched, turned around, and disappeared into his pokeball amidst a burst of red light.

I shook my head and retrieved my bike before riding it back to the reserve. When I arrived, I released Azrael twenty feet away and said, "Well it looks like someone is learning how to hunt. I hope you learn quickly because you won't beat me on this." Azrael simply snorted and turned his back on me. I continued, "I hope you grow out of this petty defiant stage quickly because you are going to get pret-ty hungry. I'm not feeding you until you start behaving."

He looked back at me after I spoke and I had the feeling that he could understand me. He then ran into the woods on the far side of the clearing. I stared after him confusedly and then shrugged. I started propping up log archery targets, which I had formed after long weeks of archery practice, vigilantly aware of my environment with the Greatball at the ready.

After half an hour, a Pidgey burst into the clearing in which I was practicing, squawking in fright. Azrael was hot on its tail feathers, snapping wildly and screeching at the bird pokemon, but was not close enough to catch it. The Pidgey flew up and out of Azrael's reach, leaving him looking up at his escaped prey, growling. I let out a small chuckle at his pathetic attempt to show me up and realized that he probably HAD understood me.

"Go ahead. Try again if you want. You aren't getting any meals from me unless you start behaving and listening to me," I challenged, and Azrael promptly walked over to one of my targets and tore it down. "HEY! You wanna play that game, you little shit?" I yelled, and then I shined the Greatball's laser onto him, returning him to his pokeball. I released him close by and jabbed him in the spiracle before returning him again and releasing him farther away.

Azrael bared his sharp teeth at me, made a small earthen bed on the far side of the clearing, and lay down. I reassembled the target Azrael had destroyed and resumed practicing again, while talking to him. "I understand you want to be your own dragon, but you will come to see that, with my help, you can be so much greater than on your own. Now let me tell you about how your mother and her trainer both stopped a great red Gyarados from destroying Cinnabar…" I noticed Azrael listening intently as I described his mother's exploits, including the battle in which her arm was allegedly frozen and shattered by a champion Empoleon while she mauled and cut it down with her other claw. I also described Champion Lorelei, who trained Kira from a Gible to become a legend. I explained how I wanted to do the same.

When I finished, I looked over at Azrael to see him staring back at me. As soon as he saw me look at him, though, he quickly looked away and acted apathetically by feigning indifference. I smiled and continued shooting, thinking that he was genuinely interested in what I was telling him. When it was time for me to pack up and head back to Joseph's for the second practice of the day, I started putting all of my gear in my bag. After I finished packing, I noticed that Azrael had disappeared, so I looked around, but I could not see him.

I looked to where he had previously been laying down and saw a mound of upturned dirt. Shit. I walked as carefully and lightly as possible over to a tree with a low-hanging branch. I took three running steps to it when I was close enough, and jumped, grabbing ahold of the branch with one hand while readying the Greatball in my other. A couple seconds later, Azrael burst from the ground beneath me with his mouth open wide, only to get returned to his ball, jabbed in the spiracle, returned again, and released far away.

_He's thinking of different ways to kill me. Smart little brat_. He growled at me and turned away as I said to him, "I told you what would happen if you continued this. You are spending a night, awake, in your pokeball." He hissed at me before disappearing into the ball. I went back to Joseph's for practice, and then returned home afterwards.

Dinner with my parents was always an awkward affair after we moved. We could not afford a professional cook anymore, so my mother tended to prepare meals, which were not as good. They were usually eaten in silence and as quickly as possible since no one wanted to comment on our situation. The most that was said generally amounted to small talk about how well Joseph was getting, which colleges I had researched, or where my father was trying to get a job.

My father had kept Blazerunner, unable to bring himself to give up his only legacy of his lost ranch. Our new house was smaller, but it was sitting on a bit of land so that Blazerunner had room to run, and my melancholy father only appeared to be happy when he watched that stallion running through the field. My mother apparently noticed it too, and she responded with the bottle, as if SHE was the one truly hurt by Kira's rampage. _Selfish, petty woman_, I had thought to myself.

The next day, I continued my routine of pitching practice and training at the reserve. By the time I released Azrael, he had spent about 19 hours in his pokeball, but due to the relative distortion of time within pokeballs, he only felt about 1/6 of that time. Pokeballs slowed time for the pokemon inside by putting them in a sort of digital stasis, but the pokemons' bodies aged normally with the flow of time, whether they were asleep or not in the ball. This was very helpful, for it could nearly freeze a pokemon's injuries and prevent them from growing worse, giving a trainer time to transport them to a Pokemon Center for treatment. However, injured pokemon inside pokeballs are not invulnerable. Direly injured pokemon can die inside the pokeball if their trainers do not have them treated soon enough.

It is considered humane and considerate for a trainer to wait until his pokemon are asleep before storing them for extended periods of time, because they will sleep through the passage of time instead of having to wait. Older pokemon who were more accustomed to time spent in pokeballs could will themselves asleep it they wanted to, but Azrael did not have a disciplined enough mind to do so, or enough experience inside the pokeball. Keeping Azrael in the ball for 19 hours was like making him sit in one spot doing nothing, and unable to fall asleep, for three hours. It was a boredom-based punishment; much like making a child sit in a corner, and it could be very effective.

Azrael was pissed when he was released from the ball the next day, but he did not attempt to attack me. Progress. He did, however, ignore me the entire time, while I talked to him about everything and nothing.

I left that night without him trying to eat me, which came as a relief. I thought that he must have been getting hungry, given that it had been four days since he had eaten - I had not fed him the day before I caught him. He seemed to be determined to find a way to exist on his own; determined to defy me.

The next day, I checked my GPS on my way to the reserve before I arrived, for I still did not trust Azrael. The GPS had become fuzzy and showed Azrael somewhere in the reserve area, so I determined that he was either resting in the burrow, or waiting underground somewhere to ambush me. I decided to experiment in order to find out. I gathered some stones and heavy sticks and started walking carefully forward on the path, and when I was about three hundred feet from the clearing, I started throwing the sticks and the rocks in front of me, in a progressing line. After the fifth rock landed, jaws opened up from underneath the rock and clamped down, disappearing under the ground quickly after. _Little shit_.

I took two stones and threw one to the right and one to the left shortly after. I then aimed my Greatball at the one on the left and waited. If Azrael was as clever as I suspected him of being, he would catch on that I was throwing stones as a diversion, and then adapt to counter such a strategy. My suspicions paid off as his mouth appeared around the delayed rock on the left and then disappeared with a flash of red light. Since I had predicted his movements, I was ready for him and had returned him as soon as his jaws emerged.

Azrael was developing more cunning methods of hunting me, and in a way, it was good that he was learning on his own. Unfortunately he was learning on me! A jab to the spiracle and a scolding later, we stood facing each other, glaring and staring into each other's eyes. I returned Azrael after chastising him, saying, "You are going to spend a lot of time alone, bored, and hungry if you keep this up! I have no problem with it. You bring this upon yourself!"

I practiced archery alone that day, keeping Azrael in his ball for another 24 hours; four hours of boredom. Call me cruel but how else could I discipline a dragon; a beast that could easily tear me apart? It was effective.

When I released Azrael the next day, his sixth day without food, he looked anxious and relieved. He ran around for a little bit, ignoring me, and throughout that time I could actually hear his stomach growling with hunger. He eventually looked over to me and started screeching in a whiny manner, showing me that he was finally succumbing to his hunger, and was throwing a fit. I looked him in the eye and said, "Do you remember what I said? I am not going to feed you if you act out."

Azrael's whiny screeching intensified. "If you behave, I'll get you some food," I told him. He quieted down and gave me the dragon equivalent of pleading, Growlithe-puppy-eyes. _You actually look so cute_, I thought. "If you can understand what I want from you, stomp three times." Azrael paused for a few seconds and started stomping. With each stomp, a small fissure appeared in the dirt and I smiled; this proved that he could understand me.

"If you want me to feed you," I said, "you need to promise me you will behave. If you kill me, you will starve. If you agree with me and promise to behave, perform the call." I left out the possibility of him learning to fend for himself; wouldn't want him getting any wrong ideas. Azrael paused again before clicking his claws together three times, stomping little fissures into the ground three times, and then hissing. Progress.

I then walked up to Azrael, mentally suppressing any form of fear that I felt in lieu of complete confidence. I had the Greatball readied just in case, but I walked around him and pinched his spiracle gently, warranting a grumble from him. I then told him, "Good then. Now prove it to me. I want you to stay right here until I get back with your dinner. Don't move, because I will know." Of course there was no way to know if he moved short distances, but I wanted him to think that I was watching him – It was like I was a parent telling his son that I am always watching and I always know what he is doing to keep him paranoid of retribution for acting out.

I rode my bike to the butcher as quickly as I could and purchased a full Mareep. The butcher had long since become suspicious and had inquired about my purchases of so many Mareep, so I assuaged his suspicions as best I could by explaining, "I am being paid by an old man and his family to bring Mareep from town to his house located east of Viridian Forest. They really like mutton, what can I say?" The butcher had seemed to remain suspicious about me but chose not to continue his interrogation, which worked well for me. During this particular food expedition, I checked Azrael's position on his pokeball and amusedly found his marker in the same place.

I walked the Mareep back to the reserve an hour later and Azrael was still sitting in that one spot. I smiled as I tied the frightened Mareep to a tree and walked over to Azrael who had risen from the ground. I pinched him lightly, again, on the spiracle between his bulb and dorsal fin, which he did not like it, but he did not round on me. With another smile, I motioned to the Mareep with a sweep of my hand and said, "He's all yours."

Azrael sprinted clumsily to the Mareep who was struggling to escape the leash and leapt onto its back, ignoring the cracks and sparks of electricity that arced from its tail and over his scales. It was gruesome but also fascinating and oddly satisfying. Azrael was a predator, and predators preyed on the weak. I did not consider myself weak and I had been working on convincing Azrael to see that for himself, however slowly. From the way that I mercilessly killed his food before, to my apathy in letting him slaughter live prey for himself, to my complete confidence and perceived lack of fear in establishing my dominance, I was establishing myself as his leader. When he finally saw me as his leader, I would tell myself, we were going to make an excellent team.

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During the next few weeks, baseball season was looming nearer, which meant that my job was about to end. I had made almost as much money from the seven Stantler I had hunted as I had working for Joseph. I had saved up quite a lot during the last five and a half months and, after subtracting the amount used for Mareep and equipment, I totaled a little over 13000Pb. It was a good start, but I would have to find a different job during the summer since I did not feel nearly as good about my relationship with Azrael to start my adventure. Over the past few weeks, he had not attacked me and had generally become pleasant with me, but I did not trust him alone with me in the wilderness yet.

To develop Azrael's skills and attributes, I instituted a training regimen which was similar to sports training. To increase his speed and counter his clumsy nature, I started him off with agility training. He knew what I wanted him to do, considering I explained it to him fairly simply, but he chose to ignore me most of the time. I would plant sticks in the ground fifty feet apart and tell him to stand on one side of the stick while I stood ten feet to his side, on the other side of the stick. I would then tell him to race me to the other stick and back. At first he completely ignored me, but seeing me run through the drills anyway gave him a little respect for me. It also helped motivate him when I placed a dead Pidgey on one of the sticks and raced him to it, or when I jabbed his spiracle.

I had Azrael running nearly as fast as I by the time baseball season started. I was pleased to find out that Joseph had made varsity and his parents gave me an extra 2000Pb. That put me at 15000Pb for the winter for which I was not complaining. To celebrate, I bought a small Miltank, which had cost three times the price of a Mareep, and developed a new training exercise for Azrael.

The point of the exercise was to ambush the Miltank without it noticing Azrael's presence. I showed him the vulnerable spots on the cow pokemon, much to the chagrin of the Miltank, and I tried my best to explain an ambush strategy to him. I was pleasantly surprised when he exceeded the strategy that I had given him. I had intended for him to loosen the earth underneath strategic spots where the Miltank could step in and potentially break a leg. Instead, an entire section of the path caved in when the Miltank crossed. The pit was about seven feet deep and the Miltank's front end fell in with its back legs still on solid ground. In the confusion of the cave in, the Miltank did not notice Azrael waiting right under the ground in front of his trap, and with the Miltank's front end hanging down, Azrael burst from the wall of the pit and latched on to the top of the Miltank's lowered neck. He clamped down hard, jerked to the side, and broke bovine pokemon's neck, before shaking it wildly.

Azrael then ran over to me holding bits of bone and flesh in his mouth. He stopped in front of me looking excited and proud, then quickly changed moods and returned to his kill with an attitude of, "Of _course_ I did that." It was a heartwarming experience that left me with a smile on my face.

During those few weeks I also developed training exercises for both of us to strengthen our different attributes. I salvaged rope from my father's abandoned ranch (during the day) and made makeshift harnesses which I attached to large logs. The point of the exercise was to build endurance and strength by dragging them across the clearing, back and forth.

Another exercise was my custom deforestation service exercise. I bought a hatchet and a larger wood-chopping axe with which to cut down trees. Azrael and I would race each other to chop down trees, me with the wood-chopping axe or both the hatchet and knife, and Azrael with his claws, teeth, or tail. I would also have him build strength in his core and his tail by directing him to hit logs with his tail in order to roll them across the clearing.

To train his special abilities, I had him breathe his small blue flame as long as he could, time after time, over a boulder. I would then have him hug the boulder for as long as he could to develop his resistance to heat. I was not as nearly resilient, so I exercised in different ways during those sessions.

We continued the exercises into the summer, and by that time I noticed Azrael growing at a faster rate. He had grown taller than me by May, which showed that he was receiving an adequate diet. We had both grown faster as well, though I could outrun him and outmaneuver him. He still hit more trees than avoided when weaving through them, but he was getting better. He could rip apart a good sized tree trunk in minutes with his claws, and he could sustain his blue fire breath for a minute straight. Moreover, by running into so many trees during our drills, I could tell he was toughening up, for he just shrugged off the collisions.

The best part, though, was that Azrael was warming up to me and listening to me. I rarely had to jab him in the spiracle, though when I did, it was not for attacking me or disobeying. Trainers heading through the territory and trying to go around Viridian Forest would sometimes wander close to the reserve and Azrael would start to stalk them. I had to occasionally jab him in the spiracle to keep him from ambushing them, and I knew that his aggression towards other people would be problematic.

On top of our training regimen and constant bonding, I taught him to hunt in tandem with me. His pit ambush trap worked wonders - that and I was becoming quite adept at bow hunting. I felt particularly proud of us both when we took down a small herd of Stantler without getting injured. There were four in total; two males and two females, all of which had antlers and black orbs, but the females had skinnier, shorter antlers.

I told Azrael the plan and he followed it perfectly. We had tracked the Stantler along a game trail to a small clearing where we attacked. Knowing that Stantler would rather run than fight, unless they were being hurt, I planned accordingly. I had to wait a few minutes before Azrael's head popped up on the other side of the clearing, signaling me that he was ready to begin. His head descended and I readied an arrow from my perch in a tree on the outskirts of the meadow.

Suddenly, Azrael erupted underneath a Stantler buck, grabbing its neck with his powerful jaws, and dragging him underground. As it bellowed in distress, the other three leapt away and faced their hypnotic antlers at Azrael, turning their backs to me. _Perfect_. By the time they started sending psychic waves at the burrowing dragon, I let loose one arrow and quickly elongated another while dropping down behind the tree. The arrow sailed smoothly in the air and hit the other buck in the back of the neck, piercing its jugular. It collapsed, thrashing about and gushing blood, and the females turned to run. Azrael, taking the opportunity in the momentary lull, erupted in front of them and screeched, sending out a jet of blue fire at both of the does. They ran away in the opposite direction of Azrael, towards me, while kicking up earth with their hind legs and spraying it into Azrael's eyes.

They never made it to the edge of the forest, for after about fifteen feet, the ground collapsed underneath them, after which I rushed into the clearing from the tree line. I had my bow in one hand and the arrow in the other, and stopped fifteen feet away from the top of the collapsed wall. I took a knee, quickly notched another arrow, and waited.

I did not have to wait long before I heard the pained bellow of a doe and saw the other one scrambling out of the pit. I was ready for it and let loose an arrow. It sailed through the air with a _swish_ and embedded itself in the doe's heart, pushing her back into the pit as Azrael emerged from the ground beside me. He looked as happy as I had ever seen him before, but the difference is that this time he did not choose to hide it. His mouth was open, his hands were rubbing together, and he was making a croaking noise. Then he turned to me and bit me on the shoulder.

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Hunting Stantler, Pidgey, Sentret, Pachirisu, and Hoothoot kept Azrael fed and money in my pocket for a few months during the summer, but I had to purchase a hunting license to keep from getting in trouble with the law. I continued to have meals with my parents, but as time progressed, the amount of meals in which I partook shrunk to one meal per day: dinner. This is because I started eating what Azrael and I could kill. Sharing food became a tradition between us, and I taught him how to control the intensity of his flame, using techniques my father used on Rapidash, in order to cook the food without burning it.

If my parents noticed I was gone, they did not voice their concern very often. Occasionally they would ask me what I was up to and I would tell them I was working on some odd job here or there which accounted for my dirty clothes, and they seemed happy that I was serious about working and providing the majority of my own food. I felt bad for lying, but I knew they would not stand for the truth.

By August, which was the official start of the League season after the three-month summer offseason, I had a working bond of comradery with Azrael. It was to the point where I would sneak out of the house late to spend the night with Azrael, and then sneak back in the morning before sunrise so my parents would not ask any questions. Azrael had grown to be a foot taller than me, full of muscle and spirit, and by that time, I had long been thinking about a new member for our team.

I made a decision and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. I did not want everyday pests which could be found almost anywhere. Pidgey would eventually become Pidgeot, if trained correctly, which were useful for flying and were terrifying and fearless in battle, but I had Azrael for that. I wanted a pokemon that could strike fear in the hearts of my adversaries on a paranormal level. Big green and white eyes peered at me in the back of my mind, and I knew exactly where to find them.

It has been said that Gastly frequent areas where horrible things have happened, which would explain why I met one at my father's ranch almost a year ago. The stallions there had been slaughtered in their stalls by seismic upheavals and a raging dragon's claws and teeth. It was a traumatic enough death for many of them to pass on and become Gastly.

Gastly are the souls of pokemon killed in such a terrible way that they linger on after death, haunting and feeding off of the world from which they were torn. What better pokemon to inspire fear, not of a predator, but of the supernatural and the malevolent? Gastly keep some of the memories and traits of their deceased former selves for a short time after dying, but as time progresses, they lose touch with their former selves and change into something entirely different, mentally and physically. It has been said, though, that Gastly will be exceptionally strong if they arise from the souls of exceptionally strong pokemon. Apart from physical nourishment, they feed on fear, pain, and sadness, making graveyards and other places reminiscent of death ideal locations to dwell.

It was tactically legitimate to consider a Gastly for my team. Psychological warfare works wonders for creating an advantage over an opponent. First, I would scare my opponents on a primal level with Azrael, and then I would chill them to the bone with a ghost. I made up my mind and decided to return to my father's ruined ranch after dark.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

It was a warm early-August night and the atmosphere was still and silent at the ranch. I did not hear any whinnying, but that was not surprising since so much time had passed since that horrible night. The Gastly here would have no connection to their former selves by this point, which had its pros and cons.

I did not feel as much fear as before. Once you triumph over and train a dragon, the offspring of Kira at that, other things suddenly cease to frighten you as easily. Azrael's bite had developed into a fearful attack to which he added some of his special abilities. His bite utilized what trainers referred to as "dark power" to hit creatures residing in a different plane of existence, like ghosts, and to disrupt psychic abilities. With Azrael's dark bite, we stood a chance at weakening a ghost to catch it. However, catching a ghost would still be very difficult to achieve since a pokeball needs to hit a solid pokemon in order to work, and the only tangible part of a Gastly's body is its tongue.

Beyond having high hopes and expectations for this endeavor, I was also excited because it would be my first opportunity to command Azrael in a battle. Before then, we had planned ambushes that lasted several seconds, I had let him loose onto smaller rodents, and we had practiced several strategies that we had not yet had the opportunity to employ, but I never ordered him to use certain moves during an encounter. Despite that, this battle was going to be different for one major reason: we were not going to kill the Gastly. This would take self-control and a more delicate approach than outright pokeslaughter.

"We don't want to kill the ghost," I explained to Azrael. "We are looking for a teammate who can help us grow stronger in different ways. I have no doubt that you and I can handle _any_danger we come across, but having teammates can be very useful. This means that you will have to tone down your anger and hold back once our prospective teammate appears to be growing weak." Azrael gave me a disappointed look and issued his affirmative by stomping on the ground.

I brought my last Ponyta tranquilizer dart that night, along with all the pokeballs I owned. I instructed Azrael to follow me underground, five feet below me so that the ground would not cave in, and wait for my signal via stomping. He would follow me by about ten feet by feeling the seismic vibrations created by my footsteps.

In that way, it appeared like I was wandering into the ranch alone. Gastly feed from pain, so I decided to put on a little show by tripping and intentionally landing with my arm striking a jagged piece of wood, cutting myself and drawing blood. I overplayed the pain with a yelp and nursed my arm in my lap, noting that it did not hurt nearly as much as Azrael's occasional nip.

I looked around and waited, sensing nothing. After a few moments, I stood up slowly and continued my façade by holding my arm close, and ambling on. Suddenly, a chill crept up my back as the air grew cold unnaturally quickly. I smirked, jumped forward with a twist in midair, and landed facing the ghost. My breath caught in my throat and I immediately grew anxious with surprise.

Instead of large green and white eyes staring back at me, two large and narrow white eyes with red irises glared at me above a large mouth which hung open, sharp teeth shining amongst dripping acidic saliva. The eyes and mouth belonged to a shadowy face/body suspended five feet above the ground, while the pokemon itself was five feet tall. Unlike Gastly, this pokemon's body was made out of condensed shadow which was capable of taking a physical form, and three-clawed hands hung detached beneath the floating ghost. It was the second evolutionary stage of Gastly: a Haunter.

Whereas a Gastly could only physically attack with its lick, relying on its mental fogging capabilities to incapacitate prey, a Haunter could condense his body into a physical, corporeal form, allowing it to attack with bites and claws. That was much unexpected, which caught me by surprise and forced me to hesitate. It is uncommon to find the second evolution of a pokemon in the wild; it usually means the pokemon was the alpha of a pack or a strong solitary survivor. Furthermore, it is very rare to find a third evolution of a pokemon in the wild, and that is not a situation you wanted to find yourself in.

When I had jumped forward, I had stomped hard on the ground, signaling Azrael. His following distance had been ten feet behind me, so my jump had created room between us in which the Haunter had filled, effectively pincered between us. While I looked at the alpha ghost, paralyzed on the spot, chills ran up and down my spine. I was snapped out of my frightened reverie by Azrael screaming out of the ground behind the Haunter. He quickly bit onto the Haunter with a dark chomp and ripped away a portion of its shadowy body.

The Haunter disappeared and then reappeared a couple seconds later behind Azrael, biting his tail with its acidic teeth. It then shook Azrael's tail violently, making him cry out in pain. That pissed me off. Azrael tried to reach around behind his shoulder to bite the Haunter, but his lack of a neck prevented him from doing so, and then Azrael saw my figure rush past him with a scowl, holding a Sneasel's claw overhanded. I dragged the blade along the Haunter's side, spilling black liquid, which was possible due to the fact that the Haunter's body was condensed for its bite.

I winked at Azrael as I feigned another trip, hoping he noticed it. Seeing me fall, the Haunter sent a wave of confusion into Azrael's mind; no doubt making him think he was underground somewhere else, fighting off a swarm of Zubat. The Haunter then rounded on me, while I lay on the ground with the tranquilizer dart held behind my back. The Haunter extended its tongue towards me, intending to paralyze me, but it did not expect me to lash out with a needle. _Never fails_. I burned my hand on the acid in his excessively large mouth in the process, but I succeeded in injecting the ghost with the tranquilizer.

When the Haunter screamed in response, it sounded like a man and a woman screaming in tandem. It was different than the Gastly I had encountered a year ago, with the separate voice pitches mixed together, and it made my skin crawl.

I quickly rolled away and reached into my pocket for a pokeball. I enlarged it, and then threw it at the Haunter, which absorbed the Haunter in a burst of red light. When this happened, Azrael's confusion faded and he shook his head before watching the pokeball. The ball trembled on the ground until it suddenly broke apart, sending its two halves flying in opposite directions. The Haunter's face drooped slightly due to the tranquilizer, but I could tell that I pissed it off. Its body then dissipated and became incorporeal but still visible.

"Azrael, bite it!" I yelled out, "Then hold on and scratch!" To my delight, Azrael shook of the rest of his disorientation before he leapt towards the Haunter and used his bite attack. Due to the dark nature of the bite, he was able to reach into the void in which the Haunter hid and grab ahold of it with his jaws. This caused immense pain for the ghost, which began to spasm, condensing and dissipating in and out of physical form while in Azrael's grasp.

As the Haunter screamed, Azrael started scratching furiously, still latched onto the ghost's body. Some scratches missed due to the Haunter's spasmodic materialization and dissipation, but a large number of scratches landed, shredding the dark form of the ghost. After a few seconds, I could hear the Haunter's screams growing fainter, so I yelled, "That's good enough! Now let it go!" Azrael did not yield and my heart skipped a beat.

I ran behind the two fighting pokemon as quickly as I could and threw another pokeball, but the burn on my hand caused me to fumble the pokeball in pain and miss the Haunter. I cursed and withdrew my last pokeball. I clenched as the pain on my hand intensified and I threw the pokeball with as much accuracy as I could muster. I hit the Haunter, though the ball nearly missed.

The ghost disappeared inside a pokeball again. It dropped to the ground at Azrael's feet, who was still snarling and staring into the space where the Haunter had previously occupied. The ball squirmed and wiggled for ten seconds, during which I found my fumbled pokeball and readied it, before the ball came to a halt. I walked over to the enraged dragon, taking a foolish leap of faith and trust, but he turned and snarled at me. I returned him immediately.

The Greatball showed Azrael's health at 62%, and I nearly fainted when the pokeball showed the Haunter at 2%. The Greatball also showed that Azrael had been poisoned, which I attributed to the Haunter's bite on his tail. _Well there goes 75Pb for an antidote_. I shrank my Greatball and pokeball down to the size of golf balls before hurrying away. I left the creepy abandoned ranch, where so much pain lingered on, and went back to the reserve where I released Azrael and jabbed him in the spiracle.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Training Haunter was not as difficult as I expected it to be. Perhaps it was choosing to wait until I was vulnerable before it would make a move. Perhaps it was the dragon keeping it in line when I could not. Or perhaps there was something dark inside me that the Haunter could relate to. Whatever the reason, the speed at which I was able to make the Haunter obedient was astonishing and probably reflected a dark nature within myself.

In reality, ghost pokemon are very difficult to train. Apart from the many differences they have with other pokemon, they vary in one special aspect: they do not share a hatred of solitary confinement inside of a pokeball. Ghosts are naturally solitary, lonely, and long-living, so they do not mind long hours of alone time. It is difficult to discipline a pokemon you cannot touch or bore into submission. For that reason, along with the fact that ghosts are generally much more malicious than other pokemon, few trainers possess ghost pokemon. It is also why trainers and non-trainers alike are wary of those who possess ghost pokemon. More often than not, the trainers who possess ghost pokemon have a dark side; a macabre personality or mindset which the ghost could relate to.

Perhaps the possibility that I could not control the ghost never crossed my mind because of the nature of the tactics I was planning on using. Perhaps my mind was dark enough to ignore that little speed bump, and psychological warfare could be considered dark and cruel. I did not consider myself cruel, but that may have been because I never evaluated myself with respect to ethics. Furthermore, just because I did not consider myself cruel did not mean that I was not. I did what I had to in order to get the results I needed, without taking it too far. I trained Azrael with harsh and unflinching methods, but such methods were sometimes needed to control strong monsters who only responded to power, aggression, and dominance. At least that is what I kept telling myself.

As I said earlier, the Haunter was easier to train than expected, but that did not stop it from trying to kill me a few times in the beginning, even though he was in such a weakened state. I chose to wait until the next day to release it and I had left Azrael in his Greatball for the initial release, so that I could address my new pokemon alone. I released and returned it many times as it tried to rush me. It tried several more times than Azrael had, showing me that it had a very persistent nature. The Haunter even tried to evade the pokeball by becoming immaterial, but the pokeball was God's leash within thirty feet; it could not be evaded. With a little patience and the aid of the pokeball, the Haunter gave up and floated in place watching me.

I realized that the Haunter would probably not have the ability to understand me like Azrael, but I spoke all the same. I said to it, "Now that you understand the position you're in, I'd like to welcome you to my team. If you behave, life will go smoothly. Misbehave and I will make your life worse." (Though making the remnants of a horrifically killed pokemon's life worse is a difficult endeavor) "If you don't believe me, I will ask you to remember the pain my friend here put you through." As I said that last sentence, I released Azrael beside me.

"He is perfectly capable of inflicting that same pain upon you again if you attack me." Azrael growled in confirmation. I then turned to Azrael and said to him, "Our ability to communicate is lacking with our new teammate, so I will need your help in getting my point across." Azrael stomped and grunted in acknowledgement. I put my hand, not on the spiracle, but on the point where his dorsal fin met his body, and scratched, which I had come to find out that he enjoyed. The Haunter had settled in the air and was watching me intently with a grin on its face which I could not place. I kept it in its pokeball most of the time until I trusted it, but kept it confined at night, regardless.

Training the Haunter included multiple methods. Its respect for me grew, as I did not try to stifle that which made it a terrifying pokemon. I let it hunt and slaughter small rodent pokemon in any way it chose, which usually involved making his prey suffer mentally, and sometimes physically, before devouring them. I let Haunter practice his horrific tactics, but I would have to teach him when to get serious and that would take more time.

Azrael proved to be a great help in including the Haunter in our training exercises, but the ghost had a tendency to laze through them. For example, it would fly through the trees instead of dodging and weaving between them. I was also able to incorporate teamwork exercises, which combined the skills of both pokemon to grow stronger. I trained them in speed by ordering the Haunter to keep corporeal except to dodge scratches by Azrael.

Haunter often exercised its mental abilities, on smaller pokemon that it hunted. It even tried to use them on Azrael and me, but neither of us was impressed. The Haunter would laugh maniacally when we glared at him for it, and I eventually named him after Elite Four Agatha's prized Gengar, Gilles. Gilles was a male name so we generally referred to Gilles as a male, even though ghosts in general did not mate. Conveniently, Gilles was listening to me for the majority of the time in only a week and a half.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Around the same time I noticed Gilles listening to me, I decided it was time to apply for a Trainer's License and PokeDex. Joining the Pokemon League grants people certain benefits, but imposes specific restrictions. First, as a recognized trainer, your pokemon must be registered, which is easy to do; your PokeDex can scan the information in your pokeball through the pokeball interface. Since the PokeDex has high density energy storage with solar power cells, and since it is so easy to do, there is no excuse for not registering your pokemon as a League trainer.

Any licensed trainer carrying an unregistered pokemon faces fines and an investigation for criminal activity. Once a trainer's pokemon is registered, it can be set to "Active" or "Storage," which dictated its purpose in the immediate future. A trainer could only have six active pokemon on his or her person at a time, and these were used for battling. "Storage" pokemon are those that a trainer will not use for battle or in breeding, and will store immediately upon reaching a Pokemon Center. In general, pokemon registered for storage generally meant that they were destined to be traded or sold.

As far as restrictions on societal activities are concerned, trainers are not allowed to run for any civil political office in Kanto. This is to safeguard politics from those who solely sought benefits, and to make sure that politicians are not absent from their duties for extended periods of time while training. It is also to prevent under-handed intimidation by politicians' pokemon. The only exceptions are gym leaders, elites, champion, and league president who are the voices of the League.

The benefits of being a League Trainer are exceptional. A trainer receives free pokemon medical care, free housing in a PokeCenter for three nights per week, and they are allowed to buy tax-free food for themselves and their pokemon. The other countries like Johto and Sinnoh respect the benefits of pokemon trainers everywhere but have different restrictions regarding societal involvement.

There are several reasons why trainers are given benefits: they keep the wild pokemon population at bay, they keep the military expenses down by being required to be the first line of defense against local attacks, and they provide a significant source of income for cities whose pokemon gyms draw in many paying spectators. In addition, when a trainer's pokemon does not wish to return to the wild after the trainer has retired, the pokemon can sometimes be used as state resources. In a way, becoming a trainer is like joining a branch of the military, except that they are given a considerably higher level of autonomy.

The Pokemon League application is free but the PokeDex is 1500Pb. For young trainers, many of whom do not have the funds for a new PokeDex, financing options are available that allow them to pay the price over time, which is more preferable to many trainers than saving up before heading out. Beyond serving many functions, such as a wireless internet browser, encyclopedia, and cell phone, a PokeDex is a trainer's Pokemon League license.

In order to apply for the Pokemon League, the would-be trainer needs to already have one pokemon and show a certain competency with it. However, competency is relative to the trainer, what kind of pokemon they have, and their relationship with it. In order to assess whether or not a person meets the standards of the League, the League sends out two representatives to evaluate the person: one psychologist and one pokemon specialist. They assess the threat level of their species of pokemon and how well the person handles their pokemon before giving the trainer a pass or fail evaluation.

Threat levels ranged from one to ten. Most first-stage pokemon in three-stage evolution trees were given a 1-4 rating, and most third-stage evolved pokemon received a 7-10 rating. If the person applying for the League license fails, they are not issued a PokeDex and they are added to a government watch list of people with potentially dangerous pokemon. Past that point, if the trainer wants to apply again, a fee is charged for the representatives' services. If you do not have a PokeDex, you are prohibited from battling, unless it is in self-defense, you must pay to use the Pokemon Centers' services, and you may not purchase certain trainer products like Technical Machines that teach fighting techniques.

Lastly, in order to keep the benefits of the Pokemon League, trainers must earn their first gym badge within half a year of receiving their PokeDex, and they must earn the second badge within another half a year. This is to keep the League clear of people who train a single pokemon to obey them just to receive the benefits, but who have no intention of participating in the league. Trainers must also step up to follow orders if they are called on to protect civilization from different attacks.

After I applied online, I was told that my evaluation was going to be held three days before the end of August at the Viridian City Gym. I had little time left and I still had not told my parents, but I planned on telling them after passing my certification test so that if they tried to interfere with my plans, they would be unable to.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

On August 20th, I arrived home after training to find my parents sitting at the table, waiting for me. On the table in front of them was a cake - a giant cookie with red, white, and green icing. The red icing spelled out, "Happy 17th Birthday!" and I was so taken aback that my parents had done that for me that I hardly realized I had forgotten my own birthday.

After almost an entire year of apathy towards me, of developing drinking problems, and of unspoken sadness, they remembered my birthday when I had not. I held back tears as they both said, "Happy Birthday," with smiles on their faces, a sight lost to me in the past year. I sat down, thanking them and almost forgetting all of my family's recent problems, and my father said, "I know it's been a rough year. It's been hard on all of us, but we are doing our best with the cards we've been dealt. We're not perfect, but we have made do with our situation."

"I know it seems like we've been distant, and we have been," my mother chimed in. "We are so sorry you've had to learn to provide for yourself. Your father has just been offered a job as a breeder trainer and consultant for the Arcanine breeder, Lee, in town, so we should now have a steady source of income. Now, you should not need to worry about supporting yourself. "

I listened to them and started to feel guilty for lying to them and for thinking of them as weak creatures. As much as I resented them for neglecting me, I was just happy that they had not completely forgotten about me amidst their own problems.

My father continued on, after my mother, "Now that we have some source of income, we can start thinking about college. I'm sure you've given it some thought but I'd like you to do some serious research on where you want to go and what degree you want to pursue. I want you to get me a list as soon as possible" My guilt intensified, as did a little resentment. "We can get loans now that we have an income. And this way, you don't have to work menial jobs over the years to try and progress slowly up the social ladder."

Despite my guilt and the topic of college, I enjoyed the night. It was the first time in almost a year that we had a solid, cheerful conversation. Before I went to bed, I re-evaluated my plan of action. I decided that it would be too harsh for my parents to learn that their son was leaving on the day of his departure, so I chose to tell them exactly one week before my appointment. In the meantime before then, I had a day to work my anxiety out in exercises with Azrael and Gilles.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I walked through the door of my home with a determined mindset, knowing what I had to do. My parents were waiting in the dining room, as per usual. It was time to tell my parents of my plans to become a trainer. It had been difficult during the past day to decrease my anxiety because my parents had begun talking more during dinner, trying to bring our family back to normal. It was one thing to leave the house after a year of being ignored, and another thing entirely to leave when my parents were trying to make things better. However, I did not forget the past year and that memory helped assuage my anxiety.

For this event, I had purchased a Miltank and a Mareep, for Azrael and Gilles respectively to eat their fill so that they would have no reason to attack anyone. I had also promised them another of each afterwards if they were on their best behaviors.

This was particularly nerve-wracking because this was the first time I would be revealing my companions to anyone, let alone my pokemon-fearing parents. Both of my pokemon were in their pokeballs and awaiting my summons when I arrived at home.

"Mother. Father. I have some something to discuss with you both. Something serious… Something you will both probably not like," I announced.

Their faces grew from relaxed to serious and my father asked, "What is it?"

"It would be best if we went outside," I replied and left through the door without giving them the chance to protest. I headed out to the middle of our yard, next to the fence behind which Blazerunner stood. There was still light outside but the sun was setting, casting us all into a cool and shady air. My parents both walked outside to see me standing cross-armed amidst the chirping of cicadas.

"What is this? Why do we need to be outside?" asked my father.

"I've brought you out here to tell you that I won't be pursuing college," I said strongly while my father's face grew stolid. "Instead, I've made up my mind and I've set the wheels in motion to join the Pokemon League. And before you protest, I began the process weeks ago."

My father's eyes grew angry and he said, "We brought you up with the understanding that the Pokemon League is off limits. Are you going to ignore what we said, just because we've gone through a hard time? Be reasonable. You have the ability to go to college and make a good, lucrative life for yourself, wealthier than most, with a degree. Are you going to throw away that opportunity? You also need a pokemon to apply for the League. We will not be paying for one, and Blazerunner is off limits."

"That is why I brought you out here, father. And I will not be ignoring all you've said. Because of what you said, I'm still alive and I will never underestimate pokemon. I don't want to go to college. I want to compete in the League. I don't need you to buy me a pokemon; I already have pokemon. I'm telling you now because in one week, the League representatives are evaluating me." I pulled out a pokeball and said, "I brought you out here to prove to you that I don't need you to help me obtain a pokemon, and that I'm already fairly competent." My mother remained quiet and my father had crossed his arms.

"Well let's see it then. Prove to us that you are capable of defending yourself against Ursaring, Staraptor, Golbat, Mightyena, and Luxray," he said with a look of complete and utter lack of confidence. It changed to a frightened look when I released Gilles. My mother let loose a small gasp and took a small step slightly behind my father. Blazerunner was snorting and pawing the ground, which upset Gilles, who turned on him and made a low screeching sound. It did not frighten Blazerunner, but it did frighten my parents. "Don't let that monster near Blazerunner! He's all we have left!" they yelled at me, but they were too scared to come close.

Gilles had become tangible so I put a hand on its head, amidst my parents yelling at me not to touch it, and said, "Stand down Gilles. He won't hurt you and you are not to hurt him." His screeching turned into a low growl and he turned towards my parents, who were now amazed, but nonetheless frightened at my control over him. "Gilles, these are my parents. Mother, Father, this is Gilles. He's my Haunter and I am his trainer." The ghost flashed them a wide toothy grin and let some acid fall from his mouth onto the grass below.

My parents were dumbfounded and stammered out respective "hellos" before I returned him. "So _that's_ how you will survive, frighten off any monster that comes near you with a ghost? I mean, it _is_ terrifying but some pokemon are hard to scare. And how strong is it actually? You obviously have some control over it and I'm nervous as to how you were able establish that, but what if it decides not to follow your commands?" asked my father.

"Well there are couple things I need to say," I replied. "The first is that Gilles is the second stage of a three-tier pokemon, and I caught him that way, so he's fairly strong for his species. The second is that if I cannot control him, I have help. Gilles is not my starter." That warranted looks of disbelief and nervousness from my parents. "My starter is more terrifying and powerful than Gilles. Do not overreact and please give him a chance. I understand that he might not be the most agreeable pokemon to you, given our personal history, but please, understand that he is not responsible."

I took out my Greatball, which both of my parents noticed and said, "Where did you get that? Is that the necklace you've been wearing around your neck since graduation?"

"Yes," I replied. "Uncle Ray gave it to me. It was a real Greatball and I used it to catch my very first pokemon." I pointed the Greatball beside me and released Azrael. By this time, the top of his head was a foot and a half taller than mine, and his fin rose two feet above that. His black scales and maroon stomach glinted from the setting sun, giving him a grandiose, yet threatening presentation.

Immediately upon Azrael's release, my parents cried out and Blazerunner jumped the fence to stand in between us, his fiery mane intense and flaring. "Get away from it! It'll kill you!" they shouted. I put my hand on top of Azrael's spiracle but did not press down. His lip was curled in a vicious snarl, but he did not make a move to confront Blazerunner. He simply stood beside me and stared at the angry Rapidash with his teeth bared.

Amidst their terrified screaming I yelled, "Would you please return Blazerunner? I've made my point with him." They continued to fret and yell but I patiently waited for them to tire themselves out. I had come to realize that a little patience can go a long way. When they finally realized I was not listening to them and Azrael was not going to move, they returned Blazerunner and glared at me.

"How on earth did you find a dragon? Is it about to evolve? It's too big! How is it not attacking you?" ranted my mother.

"Is that a Gible? How did you find one out here?" asked my father with disbelief.

"This is Azrael," I said. "He is my first pokemon and we are a team. He is Kira's brood, which is why he's so big, and again, he has done nothing wrong. His presence is probably the reason why Kira went mad when Uncle Ray took her away, but it wasn't his fault. As you can see, he is not going to harm anyone." I looked at the incredulous expressions of my gawking parents with a slight sense of amusement. They remained quiet and I felt that I had made my point well.

After a short period, my mother finally said, "I don't want you to go. It's dangerous out there, even if you have a dragon and a ghost."

My father followed up with, "Think of what you'll be giving up if you leave. We won't be able to help you if you leave for the League. If you go to college, we can help you when you need it."

I grew frustrated and said, "I know what I'm giving up and I've been planning for it for most of my life. I never intended to go to college after school; I intended to join the league from the first time I learned about pokemon. I'm following my dream. And where were you both after Kira attacked? Why did it take a year for you to show me you still cared? I learned what I had to in order to follow my dream, on my own. I'm not a child anymore and you won't change my mind."

"We've lost so much already. We don't want to lose you, too," said my mother, tears rolling down her face.

"When I get my PokeDex, I will be able to call and keep in touch with you. You can also follow my progress on the League's website," I replied.

At that moment, our conversation was interrupted by a League Ranger, who approached us next to the Viridian City Gym Leader, Pierce Williamson. They were both holding pokeballs and they both released an Arcanine and a Flygon, respectively. I left my hand on Azrael's spiracle, now very nervous.

Williamson, a tall and healthy looking man, yelled out, "Is that your pokemon son?"

I replied, "Yes it is, sir. What seems to be the problem?"

"We received a report that a dragon was causing problems here. We came to investigate. May I see your PokeDex?" he demanded. I grew even more nervous since I had not received mine yet.

"Sir, I have an appointment with League representatives in one week to evaluate me for the League. As you can see, my Gible is not causing any problems." Indeed, Azrael had not moved. He remained standing; now staring at the two men and their pokemon with a confrontational glare.

"Return your pokemon so we can relax!" he ordered. I did so and the ranger and gym leader returned their pokemon as well. "Thank you. Now can you show me the appointment confirmation?"

The night was long and frustrating, but in the end I was able to keep my pokemon, though a close eye was kept on me by the Gym Leader. I had shown them my emailed application status, and Azrael had not done anything rash or aggressive that night, so I was given a little leeway. It turns out that the butcher had paid a kid to follow me and find out what I was doing with the livestock, and the kid had been frightened when he saw me feeding my pokemon, so he returned to tell the butcher what he saw.

The butcher then investigated himself, finding me at my house with an enraged Rapidash in front of a dragon. He called the police who had shown up with the Gym Leader, and received a warning about false alarms when no threat was found.

During my last week at home, my parents did not give up in trying to convince me to stay, but their attempts were in vain. I was so close to becoming a trainer and there was no stopping me. They had slightly loosened up towards Azrael but I kept him at his burrow at night anyway. Then, on the last day of August, I headed into the city and into the gym for my assessment.

My parents both surprised me by attending and watching. The League psychologist was a woman named Mary and the pokemon specialist was a man named Leon, and they gave me some initial paperwork to fill out before continuing. When they received my paperwork and saw the two pokemon I had listed, they were both surprised and disbelieving. The man looked at me and said, "I don't know how you were able to get the Gible, but is this a joke? The League does not take kindly to wasting our time."

I told him it wasn't a joke and released Azrael. Both of them were taken aback, from the size of the dragon and from the fact that a seventeen year old boy was keeping him from attacking anyone. The man told me that Gible were considered threat level four but the size and ancestry of Azrael put him at a five. I did the same with Gilles, who was considered a threat level six. Due to my competent hold over both of my pokemon, to the surprise of both my parents and the League representatives, they approved me for the League and handed over a brand new shining red PokeDex. I was so happy that I hugged Azrael, who grumbled and shook me off.

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A couple days later, I had packed a backpack full of supplies which I had purchased in preparation, and I was having my last meal at home before setting out to conquer the gyms. My mother and father were silent for most of the meal, no doubt trying to think of any way to change my mind. Finally, to my surprise, my father said, "It seems that we cannot dissuade you from this. If you need help, we will do the best we can. Please visit occasionally and call often, because we will be worried most of the time."

I nodded and assured them that I would not forget them before my mother said, "We know this last year has taught you to be on your own, but please take this with you. It's what we can afford to help you with." My mother had slid 5000Pb across the table.

"I can't accept that, mother. You need it here more than I do. I spent the last year saving up money for this." I stuttered out.

My father then said, "Take it, son. It's all we can do for you, and we want you to have it. It's yours. Please be careful. Call us and update us often." I agreed and took the money, feeling a little guilty.

I could hardly sleep that night knowing my dream was becoming a reality. I had let Azrael out in my room, so that he could sleep with me that night, without my parents noticing. In the morning, after returning him, I said farewell to my parents amidst mournful wishes of "good luck," and "be careful." I deposited most of my money in the Kanto Federal Bank, keeping 1000Pb in my pocket, and left Viridian City, heading north to Viridian Forest. Leaving the city behind and feeling the ground beneath my feet as I walked along the path felt exciting and freeing. I let my pokemon out once I left the city limits and we made our way towards the forest. The sun was shining, its rays bouncing off Azrael's scales, being evaded by Gilles who had dematerialized, and brightening up my wide smile. I thought to myself, Indigo League, here I come!

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**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gible

Gilles – Haunter


	4. Chapter 4: Commencement

Chapter 4

Author's Note:

So, just how dark is the main character? O.o Only time will tell. Until then, on to Viridian Forest!

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The many stories people hear about pokemon training being this glamorous and amazing career, full of awe-inspiring battles between groomed and fit pokemon, are only one side of the whole story. In gym challenges, people only see the pokemon after they have been healed of their injuries at the Pokemon Center. They hear of friendly battles on the routes between cities, they hear about hearty campfires in the wilderness, and PokeAdvocates sell stuffed pokemon to appeal to children as fluffy, friendly companions, distorting the reality. Moreover, pokemon pageants allow pokemon to be presented in a non-threatening manner, which further gives the wrong impression.

In a society that is so far removed from the wilderness, pokemon are capable of being framed in such a way that fear is an emotion less-inspired. Many non-trainers are not as wary of pokemon as they should be, for they have learned to believe in the congenial representation of pokemon that they see on T.V. Conversely, another side of society is completely afraid of pokemon, and bases its fears on the dangerous fights that are seen in gyms and on the television. However, what both extremes of non-trainer society do not know is what it _feels_ like to be on the trainer's path. They only understand a fragment of the reality, and they take their incomplete fragments to excess.

Trainers experience the most extreme feelings throughout their careers. They will feel excitement. They will feel the rush in commanding pokemon to fight. But they will also feel fear. They will feel dread. They will feel that creepy feeling at the base of their neck when they know someone or something is watching them but cannot be located. Most of them know the feeling of solitude, save for the company of their pokemon. And finally, they will all know sadness.

Trainers know that battles on the road can be anything but friendly. They know that the road to the Indigo Plateau is a vicious, uncaring, and unforgiving road. It is a road where you have to defeat those around you in order to progress. Many who begin training are incapable of passing the first gym in the circuit, and few make it through the entire circuit, with even fewer winning battles against the Elite Four. The path of the trainer is a path of hardship and strife; a journey that pushes you past your limits and attempts to break your spirit. It succeeds with the majority of trainers.

It was during the first evening of my adventure that I was given the first out of many reality checks. I had entered the forest during the day, stopping at the Viridian Forest Rangers' Lodge beforehand to purchase a 15Pb map, which I later found out was much more difficult to read than I had predicted. It turns out that reading a map is a skill in and of itself. It was a minor speed bump, but it did nothing to dampen my spirits as I moved along the path through the trees.

The road that led into Viridian Forest ran past the Lodge, turning from a hardened dirt and gravel path into a grassy dirt path. After a mile or so, the forest had swallowed the road completely, letting few rays of sunshine through the branches and leaves overhead. The trees had been growing progressively closer together and taller as I approached the Lodge, and when I arrived, even though it was a little past noon, the area was cast in shadow. At the beginning, it felt good to take shelter in the shade of the trees, but by the time I exited the forest, the sun would become a highly welcomed sensation.

I had two objectives when I entered Viridian Forest: to focus on training and to eventually make it through. Many children want to conquer the circuit in one year, which is no different than the aspirations of trainers throughout the history of pokemon training, but that has several consequences which I wanted to avoid. The first is that the trainers are forced to always keep moving, straining themselves and their pokemon. Whereas I had no problem straining myself and working with my pokemon, I found no reason why I should not go at my own pace.

The second consequence is that, even though pokemon matured and evolved faster when driven harder, many pokemon are still barely over a year old when they are brought into the upper level gyms and the Elite Four. Young pokemon battle seasoned veterans who have had decades of quality training with experienced pokemon trainers, while their trainers are children with little training experience in comparison. Countless pokemon die in the gym arenas because their trainers are incompetent, because the pokemon themselves are not skilled enough, or because they simply cannot stand against the ferocity of an adult gym pokemon.

The last consequence is a post-championship potential problem. The rare few who are able to beat some Elite Four members have no idea what to do afterwards. Gym Leaders and Elite Four members need to have many years of experience in order to be considered for the position, as well as an exceptional training record. Many young and gifted trainers became apprentices to gym leaders, but many simply continued to train until they and their pokemon are worn out. The very rare child challenger to the Champion would not be offered the position of Kanto Champion, if he or she wins, until reaching the minimum age of 25 years.

Not only did I start two years late, but I was also going to take my time so that I was competent enough to expertly face the challenges set against me. I was doing this as much for my sake as for the sake of my pokemon. I would not allow Azrael, or any of my pokemon for that matter, to fight against the best pokemon in the League without being adequately prepared.

I found myself walking with a skip in my step, Azrael following beside me and Gilles weaving lazily between the trees. The path had quickly become overgrown and hard to follow but I was not paying enough attention to care; the trees were far enough apart that I believed I was on the path. The fact that I was just entering the forest and the path was already becoming difficult to follow should have been a warning about the navigational difficulties to come.

Before long, I started noticing a few changes in the surrounding forest. I noticed that there were many spider webs in the canopies above me. The hardened footprints in the dirt were becoming less noticeable, and there was collateral damage from pokemon fights, like claw marks etched into the ground and trees. I noticed spots on trees where the bark had been pulled off and various symbols had been etched onto the trunk, like hopeful messages and even some hearts with names inside them. There were also warnings, such as "Hope you brought a blanket," "Don't approach Teddiursa," and "Keep your water bottles full and boil the water." Most of the warnings held information that I already knew, but I decided to take note of some.

Even though a few months had passed since this year's graduation, some people had left much later than others, which explained why I saw a few people every now and then. Some people had just begun, while others were probably leaving the forest on the other side. After a few conversations, I learned that it was very easy to get lost in the forest and very frustrating to try and traverse the confusing paths. Normally people would have asked for compensation in exchange for information, and would have challenged me to a pokemon battle if I refused, but Azrael's intimidating presence scared them away before they seriously considered challenging me.

While I walked along the shady forest trails, I occasionally saw people having pokemon battles out in different clearings. I found it enjoyable to watch, even if the pokemon being used were only Pidgey, Caterpie, Weedle, and Oddish. During one particular battle I was observing, I decided to sneak a peek at one of the trainer's PokeDexes and saw that his highest-level pokemon was level seven. I looked at my own to compare, since I never kept track of my pokemons' levels, and found that Azrael was level 12 and Gilles was level 14. If I battled any of the trainers I came across, I would undoubtedly wipe the floor with them, and although it would earn me a little money and give my pokemon a little experience, I did not want to make unnecessary enemies out in the wild. Because of these reasons, I decided to continue on without challenging any of them.

I found my first fork in the road after about two hours of walking. I was sure that it was a game trail meeting up with the regular path, the former of which people had worn into an identical path. Unfortunately, the assumption did not help me figure out which way to go, so I took out my map and tried to decipher where I was to no avail.

In a last attempt to find direction before guessing, I looked around at the trees and rejoiced when I found a carving of an arrow supposedly pointing in the correct direction. My pokemon and I continued along the path at a leisurely pace until we came upon another fork. This one had no tree sign to guide us, so I had to make an uneducated decision and chose the left path.

Azrael stayed alert most of the time until we made camp, since we were traveling through a completely new environment and he was not used to the variety of new smells and sounds. It was only after we were settled down for the evening that he relaxed. He burrowed and started making a circle of upturned dirt around the campsite, marking boundaries, while Gilles hovered around, cackling for no apparent reason._ Smart dragon_.

As I watched Azrael mark the boundaries, I noticed that his digging was slower than usual, and when he emerged, he was snarling at the trees around him. Concerned, I approached him and put a hand on his spiracle, calming him down, before I asked, "Azrael, what's the problem?" He responded by waddling over to a tree, burying his head at its base, and pulling up some of its roots. "Oh, I see. You can't dig very fast when you're getting tangled up in the roots." Azrael huffed in confirmation and then shook all of the loose dirt from his scales.

We had settled next to a small brook and made a fire, which did not take very long. When we finished, I looked at Azrael and asked, "So who's hungry?" Azrael perked up immediately and started stretching his muscles while I dumped out my backpack to check my inventory.

I had a hunting knife, the Sneasel claw, a hatchet, flint and steel, my bow and 25 arrow rounds, a flashlight, two flare sticks, a small spool of wire, a small bundle of ½ inch-thick rope, a water bottle, two dozen ration bars, ten pokeballs, four extra pairs of socks, two extra pairs of underwear, an extra pair of jeans, and a t-shirt. I also had my small travel tent, a small sleeping bag, a collapsible pot, a metal spoon, fork, and knife, ten antidote syringes, five paralyz cures, five basic potions, and a single revive. After I took into account all of my belongings, I put everything back into my backpack except for the camping supplies, my weapons, and the rope.

I shot a few arrows into some nearby trees as practice for a couple minutes before I turned around to return to the middle of camp, coming face to face with a shadowy visage glaring back at me. The moment I turned and saw him, he let out a shrill screech, making me jump back in fright, provoking a torrent of joyful cackling from my impudent ghost at my expense. Gilles then flew off to another side of the camp, chortling as he sped away from me. I glared at the conniving little shit and said, "Cut that out, Gilles! I'll have Azrael bite your hand off!" Gilles did not seem to care as he continued to laugh and roll around in midair.

I quickly shook off my annoyance and turned my attention back to Azrael, who stood awkwardly, looking a little guilty. "Oh you thought it was funny too, huh?" I asked. "Friggin pokemon," I muttered, before collapsing my bow and storing all but seven shells. I asked Azrael, "Could you bury my backpack five feet down so nobody steals our stuff while we hunt?" Azrael still looked like he was holding back a reaction, but he took my backpack anyway and buried it.

It now was time to hunt for dinner, so I made a plan. Azrael was having difficulty moving underneath the ground due to the tree roots, so I let him walk with me until we found an adequate lead. After we found prey, I would return him to his ball and release him on its opposite side, while Gilles would stay invisible and await my orders. With my teammates and I sharing a common understanding, we walked along the side of the stream, keeping track of where we went, until we came across a fresh set of tracks.

The tracks led in and out of the water, so I tried to figure out where the pokemon went on land. The tracks led to a tree, and there were bite marks on the trunk, along with missing chunks of wood. I immediately knew what pokemon I was tracking, and I was happy knowing that the world would soon be rid of at least one Bidoof. One Bidoof would not be enough, for Azrael alone could easily eat three of the little beavers, so I would need to find more food afterwards. Knowing that, I went back to the stream and tried to find the dam.

The dam was not difficult to find, nor was it hard to find the few Bidoof that built it. There were three outside of the dam, swimming around and fishing. I released Azrael, not yet sure how he was going to help. Despite being a pokemon with a ground-type subclass, his draconic physique allowed him to fluidly swim through water.

I quickly came up with a plan and told Azrael, "Go upstream about 200 feet and swim down, taking the first Bidoof you can. Stay hidden." He gave a small stomp and rushed behind the trees along the bank of the small brook. I then told Gilles, "I need you to scare at least two of them. Give them a mean look until they are frozen in fear, and as soon as I shoot one, grab its body, and then you are free to have the third." Gilles let out a short and quiet cackle, and then dissipated.

I loaded an arrow and waited until I saw Azrael's fin moving through the water. When I did, I yelled, "Now, Gilles!" The ghost materialized in front of two of the Bidoof as a large pair of eyes and a gaping, jagged smile. The Bidoof froze in fear just as Azrael chomped down on the Bidoof furthest upstream. I aimed and shot an arrow right through one of the remaining Bidoof's little bodies, and Gilles immediately picked it up and threw it onto the shore before biting down onto the remaining Bidoof's upper body. Gilles lifted the shrieking Bidoof out of the water, bit down hard with a _crunch_, and then swallowed it whole.

Unfortunately, my arrow was gone; it had passed cleanly through the Bidoof and disappeared into the stream. _Well, good thing I brought more than one_. I tied my rope around the dead Bidoof's tail and continued onward after my pokemon returned to my side. Gilles would probably be fine with that amount of food, but Azrael would definitely need more to be satisfied. So I hunted for another hour, shooting a few Sentret and Pidgey, all of which I gave to Azrael. Gilles delighted in helping me by invisibly stalking the small creatures and scaring them out of the trees, whereby they fell to their deaths.

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Upon my return to my campsite, I encountered a small surprise. A deep rumble started coming from within Azrael's armored stomach when we drew near, so I ordered, "Azrael, submerge," and he obeyed. I then told Gilles to hide, and approached cautiously, making as little noise as possible.

I could hear rummaging coming from my tent and saw someone's rear end sticking out of the front flap. I then approached, looking as if I were alone, and declared loudly, "Can I help you?" The person immediately backed out and stood up to face me. He was a boy around my age with blue jeans, a light gray shirt, and an orange vest. He had styled black hair, and I also noted his fairly clean-looking tennis shoes.

He looked at me for a moment, then said, "Sorry, pal. I thought this campsite was abandoned." I knew he was lying; my tent and sleeping bags were un-weathered, clean, and hardly used at all. It made me angry.

"That's a lie. So do you live near the forest, come out and steal from young trainers, then go home with the spoils to leave them without shelter or supplies? I think I may call the rangers," I threatened.

The boy's brow furrowed and he said, "I wouldn't even think of that. You aren't going to do anything about it. You know why?" I felt cold, sharp metal against my throat, and I looked down to find a large metal scythe curved around the front of my neck. It was attached to a hard green carapace.

I instantly knew what the blade belonged to and it scared me. I knew because it was one of the few bug pokemon I was considering catching. Bug pokemon in general are best for beginners because of their simple minds, group (hive) mentality, and ease in catching. Scyther, however, are in a different league. They are fierce and very deadly trained or untrained. They can move fast enough to gut trainers before they can react and call them back to their pokeballs.

I froze; I was not going to piss off a man-sized bug that could kill me and then run ten circles around my body before I hit the floor. "H-Hey now, I was just trying to scare you away. I don't want any trouble," I squeaked, instantly falling into a charade.

"Oh really, you _don't_ want to call the rangers then?" he taunted.

"L-Look, why don't we s-settle this over a pokemon battle," I stammered. "I-If I lose, you can take what you want and I won't c-call the rangers. If I win, you leave and I s-still won't call the rangers. What do you say?" I tried to look as frightened as I could.

"I could just order my Scyther to kill you and then I wouldn't have to deal with this," he smiled menacingly.

"Oh come on. Don't you think killing me would be more trouble than its worth? Plus, the first thing the rangers will do when they find my body is perform a search of all the pokemon owners who have a pokemon capable of killing me like your Scyther would. You have nothing to lose. I just don't want to die. I haven't even had a real pokemon battle yet," I quickly sputtered out.

The boy smiled and thought about the situation. Probably feeling as if he held all the cards, he said, "Slash, let him go." _Slash? What a creative name._ "I'm showing no mercy on your pokemon, bud. Slash will have his fun."

A grin crept across my face as the bug flitted back over to its owner. Now that the blade was off of my neck, my pokemon were free to do something about the situation. I would still participate in the battle, but he was insane if he thought I would let him get away with this. I was going to make him pay for threatening me like he did. I wondered how many young trainers' lives were made miserable by this boy's thievery, but I was honestly less concerned about his crimes towards other trainers and more concerned with my own vengeance. I called out to Gilles and he appeared right next to me, looking over my shoulder.

The boy gasped and now wore a furious expression. "Alright Gilles, remember our drills. Don't let him hit you, slow him down with your scary faces and mean looks so his blades can't hit you, then hypnotize him. Only then should you materialize and attack him. But be on guard, because he's fast and will try to counter you immediately," I said quickly.

"You have a _Haunter_!? Bullshit you haven't had a battle yet. You're going down after your pokemon!" he yelled at me.

"We'll see about that," I said quietly to myself. I motioned for Gilles to go ahead while discretely dragging my foot along the ground. It signaled to Azrael to hold tight.

Gilles flew towards the Scyther as a mass of dark smoke and screeched while overwhelming the bug with a hideous projected image of himself. The Scyther had made an attempted swipe at Gilles, but the blade had gone right through his body, and it faltered from Gilles' psychological attack soon after. I knew that the hypnotism would be difficult to pull off because of the abnormal nature of the brains of insects, but I was hopeful that Gilles could accomplish it due to Scyther being significantly different from many other bugs. Any psychic method of attacking a bug is difficult because bugs do not think the way normal creatures do; their minds function on instinct and loyalty, which makes them difficult to confuse.

To my dismay, the hypnotism did not work, but Gilles was safe as long as he remained intangible. "Scare him more to slow him down!" I yelled. Gilles again pressured the insect's flight response, causing an inner conflict between it and the Scyther's fighting instinct, and slowing it down. "Alright, now lick its wings!" I knew that the loss of the functionality of a Scyther's wings is devastating to its maneuverability and so did its trainer.

"Move, Slash! Don't let it get near your wings!" yelled the criminal. The Scyther started to spin, but it was too late. While the trainer was yelling the command, Gilles had flown through the bug's body and reappeared behind it. With a single acidic lick, Gilles caused the Scyther's wings to burn and sizzle, making it cry out in pain.

"Good, Gilles! Now scratch and bite! Avoid his blades!" With its movement severely hampered, the Scyther could not evade Gilles effectively. The Scyther proceeded to be torn up by a disappearing and reappearing ghost that he just could not quite hit. It was obvious that the bug was not trained well, and the fact that Gilles had trained in this kind of evasion gave him distinct advantage. Finally, after about a minute of Gilles' ghostly claws rending bloody gashes in the Scyther's carapace, the bug collapsed. I immediately yelled "Don't stop!" and Gilles proceeded to tear into the unconscious body with an unmerciful crow, before its raging trainer recalled it.

"You bastard! You're going to pay for trying to kill Slash! I'm not through with you yet!" The boy was fuming and his face was maroon. He took out another pokeball and released his second pokemon. It looked like a three-foot-tall, quadrupedal, jagged chunk of rock with a horn on its nose. I knew it as a Rhyhorn, and I knew that they are very tough and hard to damage. Gilles' scratches and bites would hardly do much damage to it, so I prepared to unleash Azrael. "Let's see you try that on Rocky!" the boy yelled. _Seriously? Rocky? _I almost laughed at the boy's lack of creativity.

I recalled Gilles, to the surprise of my opponent, pocketed the ball, and then lifted my foot up. I stomped the ground hard and slid my foot forward a foot and a half. "What the hell are you doing?" taunted the boy.

Five seconds later, his Rhyhorn looked at the ground in surprise and yelped right before it was lifted into the air by an explosion from underneath. The ground had split open and Azrael had burst out from underneath the Rhyhorn, tearing into its softer stomach before hurling it several yards away. The rocky pokemon tumbled end-over-end before it re-stabilized itself. Azrael now stood between me and its opponent, baring his large teeth and growling. There was a small trace of blood on his nose from where he had cut into the Rhyhorn.

"W-W-What the hell!? Rocky, charge it and use your horn!" yelled, the boy, disbelief and anxiety strewn about his face. The dense pokemon lowered its head and obeyed its master.

"Azrael, dodge!" I yelled, and my dragon jumped to the right, as if he were weaving between trees. His maneuver worked almost perfectly except that he was still a clumsy Gible. Although he juked to the side, he bumped into the charging Rocky and was knocked off balance. I stomped twice and, after he regained his balance, Azrael submerged.

"Rocky, move around! Don't stand still for it to hit you!" I could see the boy's sweating and nervous face from thirty feet away, making me chuckle. I enjoyed seeing the loathsome scum's fear and anxiety. _Isn't karma a bitch?_ As fast as the dense pokemon could move around, it was still a heavy rock. It needed time to build up speed but Azrael was quicker. He was accurate as well, erupting underneath the Rhyhorn and tearing into its stomach again.

"Azrael, yield!" I yelled. Seeing that he was going into a blood rage, I knew he would not listen, so I returned him before he killed the Rhyhorn. I then released him and Gilles beside me, placing a hand on Azrael's spiracle and telling Gilles to disappear. The boy had returned his rock pokemon at the same time and was looking at me with a glare.

"You bastard," he snarled.

"Glare on my command," I quietly told Gilles. Then I looked at the boy and said, "I suggest you get the hell out of here before I change my mind about calling the rangers." He cursed and then ran past me and towards a game trail as I took out my bow and notched an arrow. "Now, Gilles," I said evenly, and he appeared in front of the boy, scaring him still in his tracks and forcing him to turn around. When he did, he saw see me standing forty feet away with my bow leveled. I could see his face pause in fear as I launched an arrow towards him, which smoothly embedded itself in his right thigh.

The boy screamed and crumpled to the ground, holding his leg. I walked over to him, dialing the contact number for the forest rangers on my PokeDex. When they responded, I gave them the ID number on my PokeDex which they could use to find me via GPS, and reported the boy. I then said to him, "Lying is a horrible habit, don't you think? You're lucky I don't cut off your hand and use it to recall your Scyther so my Haunter can finish the job. But I don't think you'll be seeing your bug again for a long time after this. Maybe that will teach you a lesson and maybe you will rethink how you choose to live your life. Also, I believe you owe me half of your cash for losing the battle." I grabbed his pack, found his wallet, took half of the money, and returned his gear.

At that point, I pressed down on the arrow's switch, causing it to collapse into its shell form and rip itself out of the boy's leg. I looked at Gilles, who was cackling at the boy's pain. His giggling grew hysterical when the arrow was removed, and I grew a little uneasy from his amusement. On the one hand, Gilles was amazing in a terrifying way, but on the other hand, he could be downright creepy.

When the ranger arrived, dismounting from his Pidgeotto, I explained to him that the boy had been stealing from my campsite when I caught him. I told him that the boy had sent his Scyther to attack me and that my pokemon defended me. My Haunter stabbed the boy through the leg with his claw while the Scyther approached me, and the Scyther then rushed to protect its master, resulting in a pokemon battle in which I won.

The ranger listened seriously and weighed my words before he told me that many young trainers reported being stripped of their belongings after graduation week. To collect evidence in order to verify my story, he checked the boy's PokeDex. The boy's name was Joey Gavern, and he had a history of petty crime in the Viridian suburbs. When they checked my PokeDex, which I had only just received a week prior, they found no criminal record. The final and most significant piece of evidence that implicated Joey was what the ranger found in his backpack - the belongings of a kid who was robbed the previous day. The victim's name was written on the objects and his ID was in his wallet in Joey's bag.

Needless to say, Joey was indicted on accounts of theft and assault. My story seemed legitimate enough and I chose not to press charges or push for more serious indictments, so the ranger saw no reason to involve me further. Joey's hands were bound, he was loaded onto the Pidgeotto, and was then taken away. I returned to my campsite and prepared to cook the Bidoof with Azrael's help. While the beaver roasted, I retrieved my buried backpack with Azrael's help. I realized that spices would probably have been nice to bring along, but I did not have the room in my bag for excess luxuries. Despite the meat tasting bland and gamy, I relaxed and enjoyed my dinner while congratulating and praising my pokemon for a job well done.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

My first night in Viridian Forest held another reality check. The fear a trainer learns to cope with quickly, which no one really knows about aside from pokemon trainers, was the fear of not knowing what lurked in the dark around you. The night was as full of noises as during the daytime, but the difference was that I could not see what made the noises. I had my little fire, my dragon, and my ghost to help me feel safe, but I never knew if a predator would attack me in the middle of the night. I knew enough to put out the fire before I went to sleep in order to avoid attracting the attention of predators, but just made the air about me more unsettling.

The nights were also cold. Even during summer, I experienced cold nights that left me shivering in my sleeping bag next to the fire. By the time I would leave the forest near the end of summer, I would develop a new appreciation of the wilderness, as well as the ability to fend for myself.

I was able to sustain my pokemon and myself on our daily hunting expeditions with a host of small and medium-sized animals. We learned how to survive in the wild without having a house to go back to, and part of that was learning not to stay still. We moved around a lot for a couple reasons. The first is that we did not want to develop a tasty scent in one place for carnivorous pokemon to track, and the second reason is that we had become incredibly lost. The path was overgrown to the point where it blended in perfectly with the rest of the forest and was therefore impossible to follow.

For the most part, though, I had no problem with being lost; training in increasingly hostile environments allowed my pokemon and I to grow stronger. During our first week of being lost in the wilderness, we had many different experiences. Beyond hunting different types of pokemon and fighting stronger-than-expected wildlife, we had experiences that humbled us to the wilds and opened our eyes to the importance of knowing the terrain.

During one such occasion, we had stumbled across a meadow with tall grass and many flowers. The sun was able to shine through the trees in that area, which was a pleasant respite from the gloomy dark atmosphere we were growing accustomed to. As soon as we trekked into the field, we scattered a group of Sunkern that were sunbathing in the light. The Sunkern did not cause problems; what did was the Sunflora which they were gathered near. The flower pokemon immediately extended its body to its full height, which was about four feet tall and took on a confrontational stance.

I immediately recognized its posture as aggressive and protective, and started backing up. Its leaves flattened out and hardened, and my eyes widened before I dove backwards, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp leaves that flew by where I was just standing. "Let's get out of here!" I yelled to my pokemon, knowing that if we stayed long, more Sunflora might join in to protect their kernel offspring. I scrambled up and ran to the closest tree line, dodging hardened leaves that embedded themselves in the trees around me. One managed to slice me across my left triceps, leaving a bloody cut which scarred, but I was able to avoid most of them.

Gilles had gone incorporeal so he was in no danger of being critically hit, while Azrael followed me, using himself as an honorable shield. Later, after we had run a safe distance away, I had to pull out five hardened leaves from Azrael's back, which he did not enjoy, and to find out how hurt he was, I checked his pokeball to see his health at 65%. Not bad for taking five razor leaves from a pissed off flower. That experience taught me a little about surveillance and knowing the terrain.

Another experience we learned from was recognizing signs in the environment. When spider webs start becoming thicker and more numerous, it is a warning that a colony might be being approached. I ignored the signs, and when we stumbled into a Spinarak cluster, we had to fight our way out.

I, with my brilliant observational skills and wonderful acrobatics expertise, had tripped and rolled down a fairly steep hill, hitting several small saplings and disturbing numerous webs. When I rose from where I had halted, I could hear the chittering and pattering of many arachnids approaching my position. When I stood up and shined my flashlight around me, it illuminated hundreds of foot-tall spiders crawling down tree trunks and descending on silky strings of web. Knowing we were outnumbered, we ran.

Azrael was able to slow them down slightly by completely knocking over large trees, but the Spinarak simply crawled over the downed tree and continued their pursuit. He accomplished such a feat by burrowing underneath the trees and clearing out their roots on a single side of it. While Azrael attempted to help our escape, I yelled, "Gilles! Try to slow them down! Don't try to affect their minds though! Their collective intelligence will overpower yours!" Gilles then proceeded to blink in and out of their ranks, stabbing them through the tops of their carapaces.

At one point, Azrael surged past me and burrowed under a tree, uprooting one side of it, and I was barely able to run under it before it hit the ground. I looked behind me to see Azrael lighting it on fire. "Good thinking, Azrael!" I yelled. Occasionally, I would get hit with a flung web and Gilles or Azrael would quickly cut me out of it with their claws. Whenever Azrael was hit with webs, either Gilles would free him quickly or I would recall and release him.

Time seemed to stretch on and I ran for longer than I can remember. Azrael had caught up to me and I returned him when I saw him starting to lag behind from exhaustion. Gilles had also caught up, floating through the air as a dark mass with bright eyes. I ran until I reached a stream, and then I hopped over it and followed it down about another mile before resting. When I stopped, I released Azrael and said, while heaving, "Good job both of you. Amazing work. Azrael, lighting the tree on fire was a brilliant idea. And Gilles, you must have taken out twenty of those things!"

My words made Azrael coo with delight and Gilles cackle maniacally while doing barrel rolls in the air. We made camp there for the night and I spent most of it removing the sticky webbing that clung to my jeans and shirt. I also removed much of it from Azrael, and a quick burrow beneath the ground removed the rest. _Know your terrain!_

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Almost two weeks in, we had another memorable experience, though it was a good memory that I would look back on with fondness and nostalgia. It was dark out and Azrael was burrowing a circle around our campsite when I heard a commotion at the outskirts of our little settlement. Azrael had emerged, mid-marking, and was shaking his head wildly while screeching, so I ran over to him as quickly as I could with Gilles trailing behind.

When I approached him, I saw that there was a gray mass on his face and that he could not reach up to it with his stubby arms. I yelled, "Azrael, stand still so I can help!" He shook around for a couple more seconds before becoming still, though he was still twitching with anger as I walked up to inspect his face. After a very brief inspection, I realized that the mass was actually a pokemon. At that point, Gilles began to laugh hysterically, not helping the situation. As I tried to pry it off, it released a loud REEE-EEERRR REEEEEE screech and dug its sharp claws deeper into Azrael's snout, drawing small crimson droplets.

"Azrael, I'm going to recall you for a second so that it has nothing to hold onto. Gilles, stun it when I do," I ordered. I recalled Azrael and the bug dropped from the air. Gilles immediately froze it in fear with a terrifying look. I released Azrael behind me, and then I ran up to the insect and punted it into a tree. It fell down, stunned, while I took out my PokeDex to scan it since I did not recognize its species.

My PokeDex identified the bug as a Nincada and informed me that the Nincada would eventually evolve into a Ninjask, which I did have knowledge of. I quickly made up my mind and retrieved one of my pokeballs. While it was still stunned, I threw my pokeball at it and it disappeared in a flash of light. The ball wiggled for ten seconds before coming to a halt.

I picked up the ball and smirked. "I guess this means you should be careful while digging," I said while laughing at Azrael. Gilles joined in and laughed hysterically at the jibe. Azrael, feeling indignant at my joke, turned up his snout and waltzed back to the campsite, leaving the perimeter unfinished. _Oh well_. I finished up his job, knowing I deserved it for making fun of him. My work was not nearly as well-done as his, but it sent the message adequately enough.

I returned to the camp and inspected the newly-used ball. IT said that the Nincada was level 13, female, and had a broken leg with 75% health remaining. _I must have REALLY kicked it hard._ After thinking about it for a little bit, I came up with a name suitable for a Ninjask, referencing a ninja movie I had watched at home, which involved a female assassin hunting down her victims mercilessly. The ninja's name was Raeda, and that was what I was going to call my new Nincada.

I released Raeda, expecting her to attack me like Azrael and Gilles had when I first caught them, but I was surprised when it just sat still and looked at me. She was about a foot tall and about two and a half feet long. It also looked at my other two pokemon, acting scared when it looked at Gilles. "Well, Raeda, welcome to your new team," I said with a smile. "Raeda, this is Azrael and that is Gilles. Don't worry, we won't hurt you. You are one of us now." She did not show any signs of understanding but I approached her anyway with her pokeball at the ready.

When I reached a distance of five feet from Raeda, she leapt up towards my face and ended up in her pokeball. _Well, that was to be expected._ I released her again ten feet away. "Don't attack me, Raeda. You will end up in here," I pointed to her pokeball. She chittered and I hoped that it was a gesture of understanding. "Now stay still while I check your leg," I pointed at her leg and approached.

Raeda stayed still and I kneeled down to inspect her leg. When my face was close enough, she leapt again, attaching herself to my face, and I reacted by screaming some expletives and falling back while trying to claw her off. I then took her pokeball and returned her to ten feet away.

I massaged my face and noticed there were no scratches, bite marks, burns, or puncture wounds, which confused me, since I had expected it to act similarly to me as it had Azrael. "Do not attack me, Raeda!" I sternly ordered while pointing at her ball. "Now stay still. You are making your injury worse." I approached her again and held the ball at the ready.

When I reached her, she did not move, so I took out a regular health potion and sprayed her broken leg. Watching the potions work is a fascinating process, and I observed as the liquid catalyzed the healing process and forced the carapace to meld back together. As soon as it finished, she chittered… happily? She then leapt onto my face again.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

After almost a month of bathing and washing my clothes in streams without soap, and living from the land, I decided I wanted to return to civilization. My knife and hatchet were dulling, the weather was becoming colder, and I was getting a little homesick.

For the past month, we had had daily training in increasingly rough situations, and we struggled to bring down larger and hardier prey than Pidgey and Rattata. Azrael had grown tougher and able to break through tree roots while digging. His attacks had grown stronger as he practiced on the ample trees and wildlife.

Gilles had quickly started to become a master at ambushing prey, as well. He employed an almost artful approach to shock and awe tactics, using many different maneuvers to stun, frighten, or surprise his prey. It was amazing to watch his ingenuity, and I definitely intended to use his talents in battle. Both he and Azrael had been helping each other become quicker and tougher, and I put on some muscle weight as well. With my participation in our training and my high-protein diet, consisting of hunted pokemon and berries, I was getting to be in great shape after the few weeks.

I craved the taste of spiced foods and the comfort of a warm, soft bed. We had made much progress towards my first goal in Viridian Forest, and I would be content with moving on. The problem was that I was lost. I looked at my pokemon and informed them of my desire to return home for a small time, and they did not seem to have a problem with my decision.

Azrael, who had grown another foot and a half taller, was tearing away at a Stantler carcass as I declared the change in our course. I noticed his head was extending further out, as if he was growing a neck, and his arms were growing longer. It was interesting to me that he was showing signs of physical maturity despite him being so young for his species, but it was indicative of the success of our time in the forest.

On the surface, Gilles did not appear to have changed much. All I noticed was that Gilles' shadowy form was a bit denser then when I had caught him. His less physical, yet more noticeable change was what our training had developed. His abilities were now capable of being used effectively in a team effort, as demonstrated by his utility in hunting Stantler. He could cloud their psychic abilities, disabling them and keeping me or Azrael from taking a trip into a hallucinated hell while we could move in for the kill unimpeded.

Raeda, who had been very easy to train, had been making progress despite the small amount of time she had spent with us, and despite her quickly-developed attachment issues, which were characterized by her jumping onto my face. She had grown a little and I had taught her to use her different abilities on command.

I had had Raeda training much like Azrael at his start. I had had her practicing her scratches on trees, performing scurrying drills alongside her running comrades, and honing her burrowing abilities with Azrael. I also had had her practicing her hardening skills while draining the life of the local flora as Gilles took some suppressed swings at her. Furthermore, I had even instructed Azrael to dodge her as she tried to jump onto his face, which I had learned was a show of affection. Luckily, I was able to teach Raeda not to jump onto _my_ face as often, but she would still cling to my leg or my back. Overall, she was a lovely addition to our group.

After a brief training session following my announcement to head home, we packed up camp and started wandering south with the help of a compass installed in the base of my hunting knife. It was cold in the shade of the trees and I made a mental note to purchase a jacket at my earliest opportunity. I also made a mental note to purchase basic medication in case I developed some sickness.

After three days of traveling south, we came across a clearing in which two trainers were battling in the center of a small crowd of spectators. I watched a Metapod take hit after hit from an Electrike who apparently had not developed its electricity moves. The Metapod actually exhausted the Electrike and then began tackling it ruthlessly before knocking it out. I was fairly surprised at the outcome, and I could see exchanges of money in the crowd as betting paid off for some.

The loser paid the Metapod owner and left with his head hanging. I assumed that the small crowd was actually a traveling group because they all walked toward the tree line together. I ran over, recalling my pokemon so that I would not startle anyone. They noticed me and stopped, waiting for me to approach. I needed to know where any path was and asking for directions was the easiest way to discern one's location.

I stopped in front of the group and said, "Hi everyone. I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the road to Viridian." I was informed that they were lost as well and then bid them farewell and good luck. When they had cleared out, I noticed a girl remaining on the other side of the clearing. She had baggy cargo pants, boots, and a dark jacket covering a red shirt. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytatail, and her attractive face presented green eyes.

"I suppose you're not with that group," I called out.

"Nope," she replied, walking over. "Not anymore, anyway. I couldn't stand those people. Just a bunch of annoying amateurs who won't shut up about their romantic exploits." Her speech was marked by an unfamiliar accent, which led me to wonder if she was from a different country.

"Amateurs, eh? I suppose you think you're not?" I asked.

"…Maybe," she replied with a small grin. "You seem a little older than the other trainers here. How many badges do you have?" she asked curiously.

"Hmm, I don't think I want to tell you," I said, trying to hide my embarrassment.

"Hmm," she murmured, studying me. "Alright, let's battle!" she announced and backed up.

I was taken aback by her sudden shift but agreed, thinking, _Why not? More money for me and experience for my pokemon_. I backed up and took out Raeda's ball. No need to start out with my best. I released Raeda in front of me and the girl released a Ledyba.

"Raeda, harden!" I yelled.

"Lady, reflect!" she yelled.

"Leech life!" I yelled.

"Light screen!" she yelled.

I watched as the Ledyba flew far above Raeda. "Lady, silver wind!" my opponent yelled, and the Ledyba hovered where it was, getting hurt by Raeda's constant leeching which looked like a green aura running from the Ledyba to Raeda. The air around the Ledyba swirled into a silver mist and lanced out at Raeda, whose harden did not protect her from the non-physical attack.

Raeda shuddered from the attack and continued trying to leech life from the Ledyba who was protected by the light shield. I yelled, "Stay in there Raeda!" trying to motivate her, but I was beginning to think that Raeda was outmatched.

"Lady, silver wind again!" the girl yelled with a dangerous grin across her face. With two more silvery barrages, Raeda passed out. After a quick mental evaluation, I determined that Ledyba had stayed out of Raeda's direct attack range and bypassed Raeda's physical toughness to beat her.

I returned Raeda with a curse and released my Haunter, saying, "C'mon Gilles, get in close and rip her apart." The girl seemed impressed but still held her smile. "Alright Gilles, freeze her in place with your mean face and get in close!" I ordered.

"Silver wind, Lady," the girl returned. However, the Ledyba was caught in Gilles' terrifying gaze before it could attack. Gilles then rushed the Ledyba, focusing the look more intensely as he grew near. When he was close enough, I yelled, "Lick her wings!" I saw the girl's smile fade into a look of concern as Gilles nearly disintegrated the Ledyba's wings with his acidic tongue.

The bug pokemon fell from the air and Gilles followed. As soon as it hit the grass, Gilles scratched it hard with his shadowy claws. The girl gave a little pout as she returned her pokemon. She then sent out her next pokemon, a purple sheep standing on two legs and about four feet tall. It was the second evolution of Mareep, a Flaaffy.

"Alright, Larry, get in there and take that Haunter down!" ordered the girl.

"Dodge the electricity, Gilles. You can now try to hypnotize," I told Gilles. He immediately tried to hypnotize the Flaaffy and was rewarded when the sheep stood still, gazing at Gilles hollowly. Gilles then rushed the sheep pokemon and raked his claws across the Flaaffy's face.

That woke the Flaaffy from its stupor and the girl shouted, "Thunderwave!" The Flaaffy's tail sparked and let out a burst of electricity, and since Gilles was so close, he could not dodge the wave. Gilles was hit and stunned in mid-air. The Flaaffy then bounded away. _Crap_.

"Try to shake it off! Hypnotize again!" I told my incapacitated ghost. I could see him struggling in the air, trying to move.

"Charge up, Larry!" shouted the girl. The Flaaffy's tail started pulsing while it drew in energy. Gilles hypnotized it once again, though, interrupting the charging process. He floated over to the Flaaffy, visibly straining, and as soon as he was close enough, I ordered him to attack the orb on its tail. I saw him wind up to scratch the tail but his paralysis forced his swing to slow down.

Gilles ended up hitting the orb but with little force, though it was enough to wake the stunned sheep, and the girl yelled, "Thunderbolt, NOW!" The Flaaffy's tail, which had stored more energy than I had judged, let out a powerful bolt of lightning into Gilles' hand. For a split-second, I saw Gilles in polar opposite colors as he let out a mixed-pitched scream and collapsed in a shadowy mass on the grass. _That's not good. _I was quickly becoming distraught because I knew that my pokemon were hurt. I quickly recalled him, holding back my rage because I knew the girl was doing exactly as she should be; fighting with her pokemon to overcome challenges, such as myself.

"Alright, I'm going to warn you right now. I used to feed my last pokemon Mareep…" I said nervously. "He might get a little overzealous."

The girl thought for a moment before saying, "Larry can hold his own. If your pokemon gets out of hand, return it and I'll return Larry before anything bad happens. Thanks for the warning. But what the hell kind of pokemon do you have that can eat a Mareep?" She had a look of incredulity.

"Azrael." I released my dragon in front of me and I could see the girl visibly recoil. Azrael was almost eight feet tall by then and always inspired fear with his initial release. "Alright Azrael, that is not food. We're still fighting the Flaaffy but don't try to eat it. Now burrow and –"Azrael had ignored me and taken off towards the Flaaffy. The girl apparently thought her pokemon could hold its ground because she did not recall him.

"Azrael!" I yelled.

The girl commanded her sheep to send a bolt of lightning at Azrael and it obeyed, but the lightning simply bounced off his scales. He had grown accustomed to lightning shocks when his diet mainly consisted of electric sheep, reinforcing his natural immunity towards electricity. Amid more arcs of lightning dancing off of his scales, Azrael leapt onto the Flaaffy and tore into its back, crushing it at the same time with his weight.

Both of the pokemon immediately disappeared into their pokeballs. "Thanks, again, for the warning," the girl said with a frown. "I guess it's time to use my starter now. You are a lot tougher than any other trainers I've fought here." I released Azrael next to me and jabbed him in the spiracle, eliciting a whine from him. She took out a normal pokeball and released a small pokemon.

It was a two-foot tall Roselia with one red flower and one pink flower. "Ok Kara, you know what to do first," the girl said as she pointed at Azrael. I honestly did not take the little flower-holding nymph seriously; it looked so frail that I thought Azrael would knock it out with a single blow. However, it did not mean that I chose to go easy on it.

"Azrael, get close and breathe fire on it!" I commanded, and Azrael ran towards the flower pokemon. The Roselia's flower petals immediately broke off, circled around her quickly, and flew into Azrael's legs. This caused the clumsy Gible to trip and fall, skidding along the dirt and grass with his momentum. The Roselia then showered Azrael with a cloud of spores, which festered and started impeding his ability to move. She then shot thorns from underneath her flowered hands, which imbedded themselves in Azrael's face before dancing away.

That trifecta attack happened in quick succession; too fast for Azrael to retaliate. "Azrael, try to fight through it!" I yelled. It was wise of her to have a beginning move set already established. Azrael groaned and lifted himself up from the ground. _Time to switch things up._ "Kick up the dirt around you!"

Azrael started stomping, making the dirt around him rise unnaturally. It then began to swirl around him, clouding him from the Roselia's view. "Now, throw some sand at her eyes!" Jets of sand were flung from the tiny sandstorm, hitting the Roselia occasionally despite her attempts to evade them.

"Kara, giga drain!" shouted my opponent. The Roselia's flowers opened up wide and started sucking energy from Azrael, who was having a difficult time making his way over to her. "Kara, again!" She continued trying to sap Azrael's strength but started becoming less and less accurate, due to the sand constantly irritating her eyes.

"Alright, Azrael, get close to her now and burn her!" I yelled, sensing a momentary advantage. In a burst of strength and perseverance, Azrael rushed forth from his storm, despite the spores plaguing his body, and spewed a small flame onto the flower pokemon, though the flame was much smaller than it should have been. His eyes were bloodshot, and I could see some veins showing from his arms that were purple. I quickly realized that the thorns were poisoned.

The flower-holding grass pokemon danced away, despite the burn she sustained, releasing more spores as she went. The spores added onto Azrael and she released more magically directed leaves into Azrael's legs. Azrael fell again and rose to his feet. He was tough and would not give up easily.

"Azrael, create another sandstorm!"

"Kara, finish him!"

The Roselia's flower petals opened up toward the light coming down into the clearing, and I could see her taking in energy from the sun's rays. _Oh shit!_ "Azrael, burrow now!" I screamed, but it was too late. The energy she had taken in was released right into the middle of the swirling sand as a beam of light. The sand fell and Azrael was crouched on the ground, breathing heavily, but still conscious.

I was immensely proud that he was able to withstand that solar beam, and apparently my opponent was awed as well. "Magic leaves, Kara," she said. I did not want Azrael to try burrowing for an attack because of the spores limiting his movement, but he needed to get away from her long-range attacks.

I did not have the chance to tell him to burrow with two stomps because leaves hit him multiple times, again. This time he slumped over and passed out. I recalled him and fought back a wave of fury. She had beaten me fair and square but she had hurt all of my pokemon; it was one of the most painful experiences I had faced. I felt guilty for allowing my pokemon to get beaten and I did not know what to do with myself. I would have to wait for my pokemon to regain consciousness and protect them while they were unconscious because they would never regain consciousness inside their pokeballs.

I was hanging my head and mulling over where I had fallen short when the girl came over and said, "That was a great battle! I have never had such a hard time beating anyone, except gym leaders."

"Wait, you've earned badges already?" I asked, incredulously.

"Yep, two of 'em so far. Why? Haven't you yet?" she replied with a confused look on her face. She showed me two badges pinned on her sash and I felt embarrassed again.

"I have not. I've been training in this forest for a while so that I'll be ready for the gym leaders. But if you've received two badges already, why are you here? You should be near Vermillion City by now," I said.

"Believe me; you don't need to train any more to beat the first gym leader. And I'm not from Kanto. I flew in from Hoenn to complete this circuit. These two badges are from the first two gyms in the Hoenn League," she said proudly.

"That just creates more questions," I said with a sigh, though it did explain her accent. "Like, why did you switch circuits? And why didn't you just fly into Pewter City?" I asked.

"It's kind of a long story to answer your first question; maybe I'll tell you about it later. And to answer your second question, I flew into Viridian City. My sister lives there with her Kantonese husband. I visited for a while before heading into the forest," she said. "By the way, my name is Sheila. It's nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand and I shook it, while reflecting on the sentiment.

"Well, if you're headed to Pewter City to take on the first gym leader, we can travel together; at least for a little while. Your pokemon are strong even though you don't have a badge yet so maybe we can teach each other something new. Oh, you also owe me half your money for that loss," she said cheerfully.

I resentfully pulled out my money and counted out 1700Pb for the loss. "Well, here's the thing: I'm actually heading back to Viridian to restock my supplies and to show my parents that I haven't gotten eaten yet, since I've been out here for a month."

The girl thought for a few moments and said, "Well I'm going to come with you!" She smiled brightly and then added, "I left three days ago so it would be a little out the way for me, but I would love the opportunity to train with a competent trainer. Plus, I can check in again with my sister."

I shrugged. "Maybe you _can _teach me something useful. I guess you can come with me. But we have to stay here for the night so that my pokemon can at least regain consciousness."

"Mine as well," she said with a bit of a pout. So, you know the way out, right?"

I shook my head with a small chuckle and started setting up camp.

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**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gible

Gilles – Haunter

Raeda – Nincada

**Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Kara – Roselia

Larry – Flaaffy

Lady – Ledyba


	5. Chapter 5: Companionship

Chapter 5

Author's Note:

So now the main character has a travel buddy. I wonder what fun-filled adventures and shenanigans lay ahead. I want to make a note, in case it isn't clear, that this story is written from the narrator's anecdotal perspective; there will be moments of humorous reflection, like in the previous chapter when the narrator commented sarcastically on his own observational skills, and vanity. Also, I will now be moving my Author's notes section to the end of the chapter so that I can comment on the chapter after I've written it. Onwards!

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"Get your dragon away from him! Sheila shrieked as Azrael snuck closer to the resting Flaaffy with a hungry look in his eyes. I returned him and jabbed him in the spiracle, saying, "Azrael, he is NOT food. Do not attack him unless I tell you to."

Sheila had grabbed her Flaaffy and was holding him close while she scowled at Azrael. "That thing needs to be controlled! Larry is no one's meal! Especially some overgrown lizard's!" she griped.

"Hey! Azrael is a powerful, magnificent creature. Don't call him a lizard!" I yelled back. Azrael had lifted his lip into a vicious snarl upon hearing the insult, but I held him back.

"So powerful he lost to a two foot plant holding flowers," she said as she winked at Kara who did not seem to appreciate the joke. Azrael appreciated it even less and let out a high-pitched screech with tongues of flame whipping from his maw.

"You better watch it! I might not be able to hold him back," I threatened, growing angry, but keeping a hand on his spiracle.

"You'd better recall him! You wouldn't dare let him attack!" she cried back.

"Try me!" I countered. She did not reply, and instead, sat there pouting. That was the tone of many of our interactions. With the exception of Raeda, my pokemon tended to frighten Sheila and her pokemon, and she spent a lot of time shrilly criticizing me for their behavior.

After I used my second to last potion on Azrael, and he regained the ability to walk, he had wasted no time in attempting to eat the electric sheep. In the end, I had to stay beside Azrael at all times, holding my hand on his spiracle to keep him civil. Beyond trying to eat Larry, Azrael showed obvious signs of resentment towards Kara. He had never lost before, let alone to what he considered to be a living weed.

Gilles was also having fun playing pranks on the other pokemon and on Sheila, much to her chagrin. He was a big fan of appearing behind people and pokemon as they turned around and screeching or using dead pokemon as marionettes to frighten Sheila and I, earning him a poor opinion from Sheila. At least Raeda had been getting along well with everyone, instantly making friends with Lady despite having been knocked out by her.

During our first night, Sheila and I told each other as much of our backgrounds as we were comfortable talking about, while caring for our battle-worn pokemon next to the campfire. I was curious about that overly-peppy girl lost in Viridian Forest with two gym badges and she was curious about the mysterious, ruggedly handsome, and talented boy with no badges whom she had almost lost to.

Sheila had grown up in Mauville City in the Hoenn region. Her sister Elaina had been a pokemon trainer six years before her and had won six badges in the Hoenn League, but retired after losing two of her five pokemon in the Mossdeep City gym battle. After her two pokemon were slain in the battle, she forfeited and traveled to Kanto, where she met the man to whom she was now married, Charles. Despite Elaina's tragic experience, she helped to convince her parents to let Sheila join the Hoenn League, and in the end, had given Sheila her starter one month before Sheila graduated.

Sheila left for training immediately after graduating, and since graduation in Hoenn takes place a month before graduation in Kanto, she began much earlier than I. She traveled to Rustboro and easily beat the rock type gym leader with her grass starter. During the gym battle, Sheila's father attended and awarded her with a Mareep when the leader declared her victorious. During that battle, Kara had evolved, and soon afterward, Sheila caught Lady outside of the city.

With that team, she made it through the Dewford gym with some difficulty. She learned to utilize Larry's paralyzing voltage and Kara's paralyzing spores to slow down the fighting type pokemon and defeat them at a distance, for up close, the fighting pokemon were deadly. After the battle was when things became complicated. You see, the problem was that Mauville's electric type gym leader was Sheila's father. Furthermore, the following gym in the Hoenn League is fire based, which is extremely effective against two-thirds of Sheila's team, so she decided to raise her pokemons' expertise in a different league before returning.

Sheila's father had given her a son from his prized starter, an Ampharos, to defend her and as an attempt to ameliorate their relationship after threatening to disown her when she left to train pokemon. It explained why Larry's lighting was so powerful. Despite her father's generous gift, Sheila did not want to battle him yet, for he was most adamant that his baby girl not become a pokemon trainer in the first place. He would show no mercy or give any quarter in trying to change her mind and bring her home.

Even when Sheila eventually felt ready to challenge her father, she would still face a formidable challenge. After defeating the first gym leader in the League, trainers face a two-phase battle in the remaining gym challenges. The first phase consists of a battle with two or three League standard pokemon. In the second phase, after evaluating the trainer's performance, the gym leader uses one or two pokemon above the skill level of the trainer's pokemon.

Sheila knew her father's original team, but since their levels were much higher than the League standard due to being elite pokemon, she was not familiar with the pokemon he would use against her. She would be battling gym-raised pokemon, some of which were bred from the elite team, but she knew that they were not pushovers.

Even though Sheila and I connected as friends through a mutual understanding of our rebellious backgrounds, we argued often. However, with that small connection, we were able to tolerate each other as we started heading south towards Viridian City. Our little rebellious duo traveled at a slower speed than usual, due to our pokemons' battle-induced weariness and injury, and although pokemon heal very quickly by nature, they had not fully recovered by the time we stopped for the night on the second day. And due to their injury, I refrained from instituting our daily training exercises the morning after our battle, which gave them a brief respite.

If my pokemon were grateful for the break in training, I am sure the mental agony of my interactions with Sheila quickly made up for their suffering. During our trek through the forest, Sheila and I would have arguments over a slight difference of opinion. One specific argument covered the topic of feeding our pokemon. It started when Sheila became irate after I shot a Hoothoot with my bow, intending to eat it for lunch. She had not noticed me draw my bow, as I had halted in our hike to take aim, and only took notice when the arrow whistled through the air and impacted the owl in a flurry of blood and feathers.

"What was that! Why did you just kill that bird!? WHY?" she yelled at me.

"Why are you yelling at me? I intend on eating today." I said, aghast at her sudden outburst.

"You can't just go around killing everything! That was just a random creature trying to live its life. It didn't even have a chance to defend itself. Now it's dead and it can't look after its young or live its life anymore. This is murder!" she accused, pointing a finger at the corpse on the ground.

The "corpse" suddenly rose from the ground, flapping its wings erratically. Sheila gasped and ran over to help it. Almost immediately, she screamed and rounded on me after realizing that my incorporeal Haunter was using it as a marionette, and making terrible hooting imitations. As soon as she screamed, Gilles laughed manically and threw the dead bird over to me, making me chuckle a little bit at the trickster's prank. It was a little funnier when I was not on the butt end of the joke, and maybe I just have a more morbid sense of humor than most people.

"HOW CAN YOU LAUGH AT THAT!?" she screeched at me. "That is SO wrong! You and your pokemon have problems."

I crossed my arms. "Look, think what you want, but I've been living off hunted pokemon for a month, and with the exception of Raeda, my pokemon have been as well. If you don't like the reality that creatures, human or not, eat other creatures, then maybe you should have paid attention in biology class," I said flatly. "What do you feed yours, anyway?" I paused as I looked at her flower nymph, her bug, and her sheep, realizing that they probably did not need meat.

"Obviously not other pokemon," she said crossly. "Kara just needs sunshine, Larry eats grass, and Lady eats plants and tiny insects. I, personally, eat power bars," she said showing an entire pouch of her backpack filled to the brim with protein/calorie bars. "I don't need to harm other pokemon except out of self-defense or in a trainer battle," she said with an air of self-righteousness.

"Well look at my team!" I yelled. "I have two carnivores, and I, personally, like the taste of meat. I'm sure it's easy to criticize me when you have a team full of natural herbivores, but I also recognize my position in nature in relation to other animals. I will not feel guilty for hunting my food." I picked up the Hoothoot, pulled out the arrow, and strung it by its feet on my strand of rope.

"Ugh, you're so mean! Don't do that in front of me. I feel bad for them," she said, pouting.

"Yeah… I'll do that," I said sarcastically. "Tell you what, I'll tell you to close your eyes before I shoot something. I'm not letting supper get away just because you're squeamish around blood."

Her pout intensified and she said, "You are so MEAN!" At that moment, an incorporeal Gilles carried a Rattata next to Sheila, making more horribly-executed imitations. Sheila shrieked and ran through the forest while Gilles, Azrael, and I laughed at the macabre prank.

After catching up to Sheila and calming her down with an apology, we were able to resume our journey. Even if we disagreed, at least we established boundaries and respected them to a civil degree. Furthermore, nothing really changed, as I allowed Azrael and Gilles to hunt in the manner to which they were accustomed, which was distress to Sheila. She believed that Gilles' hunting methods were too cruel and she believed that I was too cruel for allowing him to continue.

Apart from our arguments, I also had to worry about Azrael attacking Larry. In a touch of brilliance, I found a way to keep an eye on Azrael while we traveled, which did not require me to constantly observe him. I attached Raeda to his back and let her ride him if she agreed to screech any time Azrael made a move on Larry. Since Raeda was a ground type mix, she could hang on to Azrael if he burrowed, and she was diligent in her job. It gave me peace of mind and allowed me to reflect on my pokemons' shortcomings in our last battle without distraction.

In retrospect, Raeda performed well, but her most effective attacks were limited to close-up melee assaults, which required no change in training. Gilles had a horrible weakness. His training exercises consisted of him dodging and developing his speed, reflexes, and mental abilities; he rarely had to withstand a hit. As a result, he was not very tough, and the full force of a gym-bred pokemon's charged lightning bolt was able to take him out. We will have to work on that. I scowled, as the thought of telling my Gilles to intentionally allow himself to get hurt made me nervous.

Azrael really impressed me, but unfortunately, he was lacking efficacy in attacking at a distance. I felt the only way to help him in the long run would be weighted and un-weighted sprinting exercises. It was either that, or purchase technical machines (TMs) to teach him ranged attacks.

It is easy to teach pokemon certain techniques with TM's, which are small CD's which are inserted into the PokeDex. A trainer links an occupied pokeball with his PokeDex, imparting a rudimentary knowledge of the technique upon the pokemon inside the ball. It would be the easiest and most expensive method of solving Azrael's distance problems, but unfortunately, I had no way of accessing them at the moment.

Over the past month, I had accrued a plethora of valuable pokemon body parts through hunting, among which were Antlers, furs, claws, and feathers that could be sold for a profit. My earnings could be put to practical use in buying TM's once I returned to civilization or paying for the Pewter City gym challenge. It really depended on how much I made and how much I was comfortable spending.

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After we had stopped to make camp after our first day of traveling south, I decided that my pokemon were healthy enough to exercise. They escaped morning and afternoon training, but they would not skip an entire day of practice. That evening, in the last hours of shaded sunlight, I was performing sprinting exercises with Azrael and making Raeda practice her cutting exercises on Gilles when misfortune befell us.

Sheila had chosen not to participate in the drills that night - she was not as disciplined or as vigilant as we were. She was playing with her pokemon, tickling Kara and jumping around with Larry as Lady buzzed around their heads, when a Teddiursa stumbled out of the woods and into our campsite.

It had emerged on the far side of the campsite near Sheila and her pokemon, about one hundred feet from where my pokemon and I were exercising. Due to concentrating on training with my pokemon, I did not notice the cub until I heard a deep roar and Sheila's scream. When I looked over, there was a mother Ursaring charging out from the woods, heading straight for Sheila.

I yelled for my pokemon to stop, and just as the mother bear reached Sheila, Larry rammed his trainer from the side, knocking her out of the way. Sheila had narrowly avoided being mauled, but Larry was caught in the crossfire, bearing the full force of the mother bear's attack.

"Help them! Azrael, take Raeda and burrow," I ordered, stomping twice. "Gilles, hypnotize the Ursa!" My pokemon sprang into action. Raeda leapt onto Azrael's back as he dove into the ground. Gilles dissipated as he sped towards the hulking pokemon.

I heard Larry squealing, the Ursaring snarling, the sound of Larry's electricity cracking, and Sheila screaming, "LARRY!" Sheila struggled to find his pokeball amidst her tear-blurred vision, and I saw a flurry of claws, wool, and blood as the Ursaring tore into Larry. I ran to find my bow and arrow cartridges, sliding my foot on the ground first to alert Azrael to hold.

As I ran, I saw Lady dive-bomb punch the Ursaring and retreat into the air, drawing a little blood in its masses of fur. Kara loosed magic leaves and hit the Ursaring's paws, preventing it from hitting Lady. They both worked together, despite the fact that Sheila was not giving orders in her panic. She had dived onto her backpack and rummaged around for a couple seconds before grabbing Larry's pokeball and returning him, leaving a bloody limb lying on the grass where he had previously lain.

This was becoming very bad very quickly. I kept my emotions as even as possible, and I focused on my task. Sheila was backpedaling from the bear fast, but her pokemon were keeping it occupied for the moment. "Sheila, tell your pokemon to move NOW!" I yelled. She did not respond to me, and I heard panicked groaning in between her sobs.

"Lady! Kara! MOVE!" I screamed. They heard me and backed off a couple feet, just before Gilles' face appeared in front of the Ursaring, absurdly large. He peered at the Ursaring, taking control and lulling it into a stunned, silent statue. "Sheila, tell Kara to unleash her spores!" I yelled over to her, but she did not acknowledge my order. "Sheila!" She was crying and clutching her pokeball. Shit!

In that short amount of time, the Ursaring, whose mind was set on two goals - protect and attack - broke free from the hypnosis and swiped at the ghost. Her paws went through Gilles' face and she grew angrier, roaring and sending spittle flying from her jagged maw. "Gilles, keep trying to hold it still! Kara!" I yelled, catching the Roselia's attention. "Please, slow it down with spores so it can't hurt Sheila," I pleaded, noting the tears streaming down Sheila's cheek as she peered at the pokeball's holographic panel.

Kara nodded and quickly, but cautiously, approached the rage-filled mass of fur. She stopped about ten feet away from the swinging bear. "Now, Gilles!" I yelled, and he intensified his gaze, stopping the bear once again. "Now, Kara! Hurry!" She started flinging clouds of spores onto the Ursaring's unmoving back. "Keep it up as long as you can, Kara! Gilles, make sure it doesn't hurt her!" I had reached my bow's carrying case and was unloading it as fast as I could.

My shouting must have finally affected Sheila because I heard her yell, "KARA! Get away from it, now!" I looked up in horror to see the Roselia reluctantly backing up in Sheila's direction. Crap, it's time. I stood up, holding my bow and two shells, stomped the ground hard, and slid my foot forward in the direction of the entranced Ursaring. I followed it up with two stomps, telling Azrael to dive immediately following his attack.

I extended the arrow, notched it onto the string, and shot. The arrow embedded itself in the Ursaring's side as I extended the next arrow and notched it. This time I waited, despite my fear of the now awoken bear. The bear turned to face me, just as a dragon erupted underneath her, being almost as large as her.

When Azrael emerged, he caught the Ursaring's right foot in his mouth and clamped down hard. The force of the blow knocked the mother bear off balance. I heard a sickening crunch and tearing, followed by a pained roar, as Azrael submerged again, leaving a dripping stump where the Ursaring's right foot had been. I then noticed a gray mass quickly crawling on the Ursaring's torso and making its way to the Ursaring's back.

The gray mass stopped right between the bear's shoulder blades, and I saw it unleash a flurry of claws and the green aura of leech seed into the Ursaring's back. "Way to go, Raeda! Keep out of its reach!" I yelled in encouragement. I had my bow raised, but I waited for a clear shot.

Then I had an idea. "Gilles, get between us," I yelled. He responded by floating through the prone bear and positioning itself between it and me. "Now lick her and hide immediately!" Gilles licked the bear's haunch and disappeared, sustaining a minor scratch as the bear swatted him weakly.

When the Ursaring had turned, hiding Raeda from my view, I shot my remaining arrow, which hit the bear in the chest soon after. Unfortunately, the Ursaring charged through Gilles and at me; with three legs, and spores plaguing its back. I took a step back in fright, seeing the hulking raging mass headed towards me quickly, oblivious to its pain. At the same time, I tried to stomp and slide my foot so that Azrael would come to my rescue, but that resulted in me tripping over my own feet and falling to the ground.

I stared in horror as time slowed down. The bear closed the distance fast, but I could see in slow-motion saliva and blood flying from its mouth as it approached. Its maw grew larger as it came closer; a cave full of red and foaming stalactites and stalagmites, and my mind prepared itself for the inevitable fall into the jagged abyss. I could smell the dirt, sweat, and blood radiating from the bear, and my vision went dark.

Suddenly, I was staring at the bear from behind, watching it run away with Raeda still on its back. I was sitting about thirty feet away, and I blinked with confusion. I looked around, shocked and unsure about what was happening, and saw that my shadow was extending all the way in front of the charging bear. It receded back to me instantaneously, and from it emerged Gilles. It looked as if he was holding onto the shadow with his claw and he let go before charging the Ursaring from behind.

The Ursaring had slid to a stop when it realized I no longer fell in her path and was turning around when it met a face full of Gilles. Reality shifted back into focus and time sped back up to normal. I decided to think about what just happened at another time and I stood up, stomped my foot, and slid it towards the bear. The bear faltered for a second in front of the large Haunter's face before renewing its charge towards me.

I noticed its motions were slowing and becoming labored as the spores finally started to have an effect. Exposure to the wilderness and the many pokemon who could release spores was probably the reason it took so long for Kara's spores to work. Then, in another spectacular show of subterranean combustion, Azrael exploded underneath the running Ursaring, tackling it to the ground.

The bear struggled to get up as I shouted, "Azrael, start scratching and keep it down! Gilles, come back to me! And Raeda, keep leeching!" The Ursaring, being double-teamed by a dragon and an energy-stealing bug, found it too difficult to rise from the ground. "Gilles, use scary face above it," I said menacingly.

Gilles laughed low and slowly as it flew over to the pinned bear. I then noticed the cub running and growling towards its mother's back and yelled, "Wait, Gilles! Hypnotize the cub first, and then go to the mother." Gilles quickly diverted from his path and easily pinned the cub in place with his mind before hovering in front of the Ursaring and cackling his mixed-pitch laugh, attempting to scare it in its final moments.

The Ursaring, after sustaining so much injury, finally slumped to the ground motionless. "Ok Azrael, Raeda, you can both stop now and come over here," I called. For the first time, Azrael stopped his attacking upon my command and came over to me, filling me with pride. Raeda, however, did not, so I ran over to the Ursaring's rear to find Raeda digging furiously.

"Raeda, Stop," I ordered. "It's finished!" Raeda stopped moving and then started shuddering violently. She then fell from the bear's back and hit the ground. I quickly and fearfully squatted down to see what was wrong with my little bug and found that she was swiftly hardening and curling up.

I was dumbfounded for a couple seconds before I realized what was happening. I then stood up and shifted my attention to assess the situation in the camp. Sheila was sitting on the grass, crying and hugging Lady and Kara. Gilles had gone back to the cub to mentally keep it in place, which he accomplished easily. And the Ursaring was lying in a growing pool of blood.

I thought for a moment, and then walked over to the cub, kneeled down in front of it, and took out a pokeball. I pressed it into the cub's fur and watched the cub disappear in a burst of red light. The ball wiggled and shifted for a couple seconds before breaking apart and releasing an angry Ursaring cub. The pokeball had broken the hypnosis, leaving an angry cub standing inches from me, and it immediately took a swing. Its little paw scratched me across the chest and left three red lines through my shirt, about three inches long across my left pectoral muscle.

Gilles quickly froze it in place again as I screamed and fell back. Azrael also screeched and charged the Teddiursa, and I had to return him to his pokemon in order to stop him before he killed the cub in my defense. I then stood up, walked over to the entranced cub and kicked it in the stomach, hard. I heard a crack and it groaned, literally jarred from its hypnosis.

Gilles re-applied the hypnosis and I retrieved another pokeball. My second attempt at catching it succeeded, and I immediately registered the new pokemon before packing it with the rest of my hunting trophies, without checking its health. I did not plan on letting the Teddiursa out for a long time, feeling alright about the decision because the cub had been hypnotized into sleep prior to its capture.

I then picked up Raeda's hardened mass and moved her away from the Ursaring corpse before walking over to the girl sobbing on the grass. "We need to get to a Pokemon Center. I don't know what this means," she cried. She enlarged her pokeball's holographic panel so that I could observe Larry's status, and his health read 0%. There was also flashing message reading, Critical condition! Seek immediate care. Profuse bleeding and traumatic amputation.

"Larry is still alive, Sheila. The pokeball will keep him from bleeding out for the time being, so do not release him to check up on him. But yes, we need to get to a Pokemon Center soon, or he could die. We will leave first thing in the morning," I said, trying to reassure her.

"The morning!? We need to go NOW!" she said, in her hysteria.

"It's not safe at night," I replied, trying to calm her.

"I don't care. Larry needs help. We need to go now," Sheila sobbed.

I kneeled down in front of her and said, "I'm sorry, Sheila, but if we travel at night, we might run into another nocturnal predator, and we wouldn't be able to see it in the dark. I know it's not safe and I can't let you go wander the forest at night, and your pokemon would thank you for waiting. If you try to wander around without knowing your direction, you might end up losing another pokemon to another predator. In the morning we will be able to see my compass and the terrain." I tried to look her in the eyes but her gaze dropped.

Sheila started rocking back and forth while saying, "We need to go now…" Her gaze seemed held onto the grass in front of her without its registration in her mind.

I put my hand on her shoulder and said, looking her in the eyes, "We will leave in the morning, alright? We will not stop until we reach a Pokemon Center or until we cannot see each other in the darkness. We can't start, though, until we know where we are going, and we can't figure that out tonight. Larry will be alright as long as you don't release him."

Sheila slowly nodded and then I walked over to my supplies to retrieve my water bottle. I offered it to Sheila while saying, "You need to sleep soon. I will stay awake for a while and keep watch." I then aided Sheila to her tent and coaxed her into her sleeping bag, her small pokemon following her in and snuggling up close to her. I left her to recover from her shock with the company of her family and with rest, and then I went to work.

After I zipped up her tent, I retrieved my hunting knife from my belongings before I went back to the Ursaring corpse. I sat down beside it, looked at my pokemon, and said, "Alright you two, I am extremely proud of you. Azrael, you're digging skills are getting better every day!" Azrael responded by shuffling in embarrassment. "Gilles, fantastic job with your hypnotism!" Gilles let out a joyful, and creepy, giggle.

"Now, about the weird teleportation; Gilles, what the hell happened? How did you move me?" I had heard of ghost pokemon being able to utilize shadows to teleport short distances, but those abilities were advanced and took a long time to develop for use on something else. Gilles shrugged his shadowy shoulders and laughed.

"Could you do it again, Gilles?" I asked. Gilles nodded and concentrated. His shadow started extending with mine, but it stopped after reaching a distance of a foot and a half. It then receded quickly. He shook his head. "That's alright. I am thankful that you managed to do it at the time. Maybe that's something we can work on developing so that you can get have the ability to ambush an opponent instantly from behind. For now, we are done with drills for the day; you both earned a rest. In the meantime, I'm going to skin this Ursaring and take its claws. When I'm done, we will have a feast of sorts. Could you both keep watch until then?"

They both perked up when I mentioned the feast and excitedly started patrolling the campsite. I sat Raeda down in the grass about five feet away, so that I could see her, and I created a new campfire next to the dead bear so that I could see what I was doing in the rapidly darkening meadow. I then set to work skinning the bear. The fur would catch a good price and I would use the money to do something special for Azrael, Gilles, and Raeda. If there was more money left over, I considered doing something nice for Sheila as well.

After about 45 minutes, the fire-lit glimmer in the darkness was overpowered by a brilliant flash of yellow light, centered on Raeda. It startled me at first but I watched as she clawed her way out of her shell as a significantly larger Ninjask. Her body's length had more than doubled, and after she emerged from the husk, her transparent wings started fluttering, testing their strength, before picking up speed and lifting her lightweight body into the air.

Raeda hovered in the air for a few seconds, clicking her new pincers and mandibles, and enjoying the new airborne perspective, before zooming straight at me. Her speed was so fast that I did not have time to brace myself before she slammed into my face, knocked me over, and gave me a bloody nose and cut lip. I knew that Ninjask were some of the fastest pokemon alive, but I was completely unprepared for seeing it myself, and apparently Raeda was not prepared for it either.

When I shook off my surprise and sat up, Raeda was on her back, stunned. I laughed, despite her unintentional battery, and picked her up, noting that she was slightly heavier even though she was over double her original size. I then brought her into a big hug. Raeda chittered happily and I said, "I'm so proud of you, my little bug. Well, you're not so little anymore, are you? You look so beautiful, too." Her happy chittering intensified. "Why don't you practice hovering right there so I can get a good look at you?"

Raeda happily and clumsily buzzed into the air, and I admired her new form. Her head had hardened into a shiny golden carapace that changed into deep black where her head met her body. There was an intricate spiral of black that traced patterns on her golden face, which reminded me of tribal artwork, and on her forehead, the pattern mixed into a circle. Her red eyes looked fiery due to the fire-lit atmosphere and her silver armored arms hid her deadly retracted claws.

"You look amazing, Raeda!" I said happily, patting her on the head. It caused her to dip lower and lower as my hand knocked her down slightly with each pat, and I laughed again. She buzzed happily and started testing out her speed, almost disappearing from sight. I liked Ninjask because they were said to be so fast that they could seem invisible. I can't wait until Raeda becomes that fast.

I returned to my work, happy with my pokemon but worried about Sheila. As soon as I started, I noticed the slight breeze catch Raeda's shell and blow it over the Ursaring's body, where it lingered for a few seconds. Gilles had stopped his patrol and was looking over to me and at the husk. After that, the husk fluttered off into the night, as if by its own volition. I thought nothing of it, but Gilles gazed at it intensely as it disappeared into the night.

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In the morning I was awakened by one of the loudest tantrums of screeching I had ever heard. The horrendous, deafening shrieking was coming from Raeda, who was caught in my sleeping bag. Soon after, I noticed that I was not the only one awoken by Raeda. Azrael was looking inside the open flap of my tent with concern, and Gilles' shadowy face was warped into a look of misery.

By the time I calmed Raeda down, my ears were ringing and I had a headache, Gilles and Azrael had relocated to a quieter location, and the sounds of birds had faded into silence. It was morning, so I decided to start packing up camp and realized Sheila was awake and packing as well. Raeda must have woken her up.

"Are you alright, Sheila?" I asked.

"I'll be fine once we get to a Pokemon Center and Larry gets help," she said without emotion.

"Alright. I'm not sure how far we have to go but I know that Viridian City is south of the forest. We will get there in no time," I said, trying to reassure her. She did not respond and continued to pack. This is going to be a silent and awkward hike to Viridian City, I thought to myself.

Sheila had calmed down significantly since the previous day, but her focus was entirely aimed at finding a Pokemon Center as soon as possible. As I had predicted, traveling was quiet and unsocial. I had told my pokemon to find food on their own, but not to stray too far, leaving me to walk silently with Sheila. Sheila also offered me a few protein bars so that I would not need to hunt, which I accepted for the sake of efficiency.

It was evening by the time we reached a recognizable path. There were trainers every now and then, but we ignored them completely and trudged on. We found a sign which read, "Rangers' Lodge 4 Miles" and an arrow pointing down the path, filling me with relief because we had apparently cut almost an entire day from our predicted travel time. This was most likely due to our pace and a miscalculation in travel time.

The sun was setting by the time we reached the lodge, but the trees were becoming more spread out, allowing us to see in the small amount of light. At the lodge, we received directions to the most direct route home, and I purchased some jerky to snack on. It would be a few hours until we reached Viridian City, but I wanted something to eat. Instead of making camp, we kept walking, intent on ignoring the darkness and making it to the PokeCenter that very night.

I did not have to tell Sheila that we were not stopping; she must have figured it out and kept quiet after the road was paved in moonlight and we had not stopped. I noticed that her pace would occasionally speed up as we grew closer to the city. It surprised me that she had the energy to do so, and I noticed her pace grew especially fast once the road became lit by road lamps.

It was after 11:00 when we finally reached the city limits, wherein we returned our pokemon to their pokeballs and hurried into the city. Upon recalling Azrael, I thought to myself that I could not wait until I had won my fourth badge, since pokemon above a danger rating of three could not be kept outside of their pokeballs in the city unless the owner met one of two requirements. The first was to earn four badges, showing that the trainer was competent enough to keep his or her pokemon under control. The second was to have owned the pokemon for over a year and to pass a competency examination. However, some pokemon such as Onix or Gyarados still could not be let out of their balls because of their size, which posed a risk to the structures within the cities.

Sheila kept Lady outside of her pokeball as we entered the city limit, making me think that she was probably rated one or two. At our pace, it took ten minutes to reach a Pokemon Center, which lay close to the city's edge in the northern district near the Viridian Forest. Once Sheila saw the large bright pokeball sign, she sprinted towards the center. I let her go, choosing to follow at my own pace, and to meet her inside.

When I walked through the doors, I saw a blonde haired, blue-eyed, and freckled Nurse Joy talking to Sheila and walking back with her towards the residential accommodations. She then left Sheila's side and met me at the front counter.

"Hello, sir! Welcome to the Viridian City PokeCenter number three! How can I help you tonight?" she welcomed with a large smile on her face.

"I need my pokemon checked in. Also, will Larry be alright?" I asked.

Nurse Joy looked confused for a second before asking, "Are you traveling with the young lady who just checked in?" I nodded, and she said, "Ok. The Flaaffy will be alright, though he might have had problems if the young lady had waited much longer to check him in. He was very lucky that she returned him to his pokeball before he bled out. She can tell you more about the specifics, since I am not allowed to divulge the particulars of the medical status of unrelated patients. As for your pokemon…," she said, holding out her hand.

I gave her my four pokeballs and she scanned them before saying, "They are doing very well at the moment. With the exception of the Teddiursa, all of them do not require extensive medical treatment. I will still have to take them for the night, and you can pick them up after five in the morning. They won't require any time to rest before you use them in battles, as well, but they might be slightly groggy. Here is a room key, and the cafeteria is open all hours of the day. Enjoy your stay!" she said cheerfully, handing me a key that said 'Room 12' on an attached label.

"Thank you, ma'am. Have a good night," I responded and then walked down the hall, following the signs for lodging. I found Sheila sitting on a couch in the lounge and walked over to sit down next to her. She looked downcast despite having finally provided Larry with medical help, but that may have been because she was exhausted.

When Sheila saw me approach, she gave a weak smile and said, "Larry will be alright, but he will need to rest for a few days before I can resume training him."

I let out a sigh of relief and sat down. "Good," I said. I relaxed a little, enjoying the comfort of the soft couch. I heard a sniffle and looked over at Sheila, who was crying and holding her face in her palms.

"I couldn't do anything. I froze up. All I could think about was that Larry was dying. I am so sorry I didn't help. I could have gotten us both killed, and our pokemon. I was so stupid," she mumbled as she sobbed in her hands.

"It's alright. Everyone is safe and ok now," I reassured her.

"I've never been in such a dangerous situation before. Thank you for helping me and making sure no one else was hurt," she said and gave me a hug.

Even though there was no romantic sentiment conveyed by her contact, it was the first time I had physical contact with a girl who was not my mother. As a result, I was slightly uncomfortable. However, I understood her feelings of gratitude and responded by returning her hug. She was warm and smelled terrible; like sweat and body odor. The time spent outside without showering for a week had obviously affected her hygiene, and I would wager that I did not smell any better.

I then said to Sheila, while hugging, "It doesn't matter. Anyone would have been shocked in that situation. But we're safe now. Our pokemon are safe now, and I'm sure you will be able to handle yourself in the future." I smiled and released her. "Now, I could use a shower and a meal," I said with a laugh. "Meet me in half an hour in the cafeteria?"

Sheila smiled, nodded, and said, "Ok, see you there."

I walked to my room and went directly to the shower. The warm water felt glorious compared to the occasional cold river bath of the wilderness. I ended up standing in the shower for almost half an hour, simply enjoying the sensation of the warm water hitting my body, before I realized I was going to be late.

I quickly washed myself with the complimentary antibacterial soap, and clothed myself with the baggy PokeCenter clothes that were given to trainers during their stay at the Center. The Centers allow trainers to wash their clothing and still have something to wear in the meantime. The complementary clothing consisted of a pair of white and red sweats with a pokeball and the PokeCenter number stitched on the front. Trainers have the option of returning the sweats within thirty minutes of picking up their clean clothing or being charged for them on the washing bill.

I arrived in the cafeteria fifteen minutes late and looked around for Sheila, finding her absent. I decided that she probably went through a similar experience as I, so I waited. I sat down and checked my PokeDex, then I called my parents to tell them where I was and that I would be coming home on the following day.

It took thirty minutes for Sheila to arrive, shuffling into the cafeteria wearing her baggy PokeCenter clothes. I made a show of looking at my watch and saying, "45 minutes late! I could have eaten and been sleeping in my room by now."

"Yeah, yeah… The shower felt really good, ok? And don't give me that. Women have time needs when bathing," she said with a huff.

I laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. I was fifteen minutes late, too. Now, if you don't mind, I'm hungry." We walked into the food court, and I ordered a ground beef Miltank burger with the works. Sheila looked at it while it was being cooked and its ingredients assembled, and smelled the aroma wafting out before ordering the same thing. "Oh? You have no problem eating pokemon if you don't have to see them killed, huh?" I accused.

Sheila ignored me and watched her burger being made with ravenous eyes. I waited for her meal to be delivered to her, and then we both carried our meals over to a table. We had our pick of any table since it was around half past midnight and the cafeteria was therefore completely empty.

We ate in silence, choosing to sit at a high-top table against a wall to enjoy the taste of our prepared meals. I had been eating bland meat with no spices for over a month, and as a result, anything with flavor would have sent my taste buds to heaven. My burger tasted so good that I could not bring myself to spend a moment talking at the expense of having food in my mouth.

When I slowed down long enough to get a word out, I said, "So, I'm going to visit my parents tomorrow. You can come with me if you want."

Sheila thought about it for a moment before saying, "Well, I'm going to visit my sister eventually. If I go with you, you have to agree to come with me."

"Alright, that's fair," I replied.

"I warn you, though," Sheila said, "My sister and her husband are awkward to be around. They kinda live in their own little world and can be a little inappropriate with each other around other people sometimes."

"Great…" I said, almost regretting agreeing to it.

We finished our meals with little conversation before heading immediately to bed. My body was sore and fatigued, and my stomach was bulging with the hamburger, so it took absolutely no cajoling to get me in bed.

I slept well that night knowing that my pokemon were safe and that I would not have to worry about being attacked. Despite the fact that I was lonely without my pokemon sleeping with me, the bed consumed me in its soft and fluffy embrace.

I woke up to a loud and quick series of knocks on my door. I groggily pulled myself out of bed and answered the door to see Sheila standing there, excitedly. I looked at my watch, which read '9:00,' and groaned. "Hurry up! Our pokemon are ready to be picked up," Sheila impatiently ordered.

I was grumpy from being pulled away from my fluffy cloud, but I quickly became excited to get my pokemon back. I grabbed my PokeDex and put on some lodging slippers before heading to the pokemon checkout counter with Sheila. The Nurse Joy had our pokeballs in foam holding containers and checked our PokeDexes before giving them back to us.

We immediately went to the PokeCenter activity room thereafter, which was easily the largest room of the building, located underneath the ground floor. We took an elevator down, which fed us into an enormous, cavernous room, lit by small but bright lights all over the walls and ceilings. The underground chamber was over 100 feet tall and the walls extended 1000 feet. There were ponds, artificial grass patches, dirt patches, sandboxes, artificial trees, and many other artificial environmental accommodations.

I let Sheila release Larry first. The Flaaffy appeared sitting on the ground, and he brayed loudly when he saw Sheila. She knelt down saying, "Come here, Larry! How are you doing now?" Larry hobbled over, missing half of his front left arm. Since Flaaffy preferred to walk on two legs, Larry's movement would not be hampered too badly, but he would have to live with the aesthetically offensive stub of an arm. He also had multiple scars running down his right side with some of his wool permanently missing.

Despite his many new deformities, he was as happy and playful as ever, jumping over to Sheila and snuggling into her arms. It was heartwarming to say the least. I released Raeda and she buzzed over to Larry. "Oh Raeda, look at you!" complimented Sheila. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier about how beautiful you are. I was a little distracted. Larry here gave me quite a scare." Raeda happily buzzed around Sheila anyway and bumped into Larry by accident, sending him rolling onto the grass and making us laugh.

We released the rest of our pokemon in turn. Azrael stretched and laid down in a patch of hardened dirt while Gilles had fun terrorizing some of the other pokemon by hiding in the shadows and scaring them with sudden screeching. Raeda and Lady had fun buzzing around, but Raeda quickly found out that she was much, much faster than the Ledyba. All the while, Sheila kept Larry close and Kara had wandered over to Azrael.

Azrael seemed to ignore the grass pokemon, but she eventually settled down near him without him seeming to mind. It was relaxing until I heard a trainer yelling from over by a pond. "Someone get that ghost away from my pokemon!" I looked over to see a young trainer standing outside of the pond. He had dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, freckles, shorts, a green shirt, oversized hiking boots, and a very angry look on his face.

Gilles was nowhere to be seen. I then saw an inconspicuous dark cloud moving around the chamber on the walls. It traveled around until it stopped in my shadow. "Gilles, what have you done now?" I whispered into my shadow, to which he let out a quiet giggle. Sheila was gazing at us with a look of disapproval.

"Whose ghost was that!?" yelled the kid from across the chamber. There were only five trainers in the cavern, including Sheila, me, and the kid. The other two people were shaking their heads so the kid looked over to me and Sheila.

I sighed and yelled, "Sorry, he's mine. He won't bother you guys again." Then I said to Gilles, who was materializing behind me, "Cut it out now, Gilles. People are getting mad."

The kid apparently was not satisfied, and yelled out, "Your ghost is a menace. You need to learn to control it." What?

"I'm sorry, what? Has my pokemon harmed anyone?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"He pushed my Machop into the pond. You need to discipline your pokemon better," he said self-righteously while walking over to challenge me directly.

"Was your Machop hurt? I'm pretty sure they can swim. I already reprimanded my pokemon so if you have a problem, get over it," I said.

"Oh, looks like we got a tough guy here. Maybe you won't be so tough when my pokemon wipe the floor with yours," he said, poking me in the chest. I was a few inches taller than him but that did not stop him from trying to intimidate me. However, poking me in the chest was a bad idea.

Faster than I could react to, Azrael had pinned the kid to the ground with one hand and was snarling in his face. To his credit, the kid did not scream or show much sign of fright, and instead, laid there with a blank look on his face. I immediately put a hand on Azrael's spiracle and said, "It's alright, Azrael. Let him go."

Azrael huffed, growled again at the kid, and backed off. The kid stood up and glared at us. "Do you still want that battle, then?" I asked.

"Prepare to take your pokemon back to the med check!" he said. I returned my pokemon and released Azrael. He released his Machop and said, "Your dragon doesn't scare me! Alright Jericho, body slam that lizard!" It's on.

"Azrael, tackle him back," I ordered. The human-like Machop was four feet tall and chiseled, and it managed to hit Azrael with enough force to counter his attack. Ok new tactic. Machop is a fighting-type. No more screwing around.

I stomped twice, which Azrael responded to quickly. He disappeared underneath the ground and the kid responded with, "Jericho, focus!" The Machop focused his strength and the kid said, "Now prepare a low kick; on my mark!"

I watched the kid, who watched me right back. I waited and so did the kid. He was waiting for me to give the order. I smiled and slid my foot over the ground. "Now, Jericho!" The Machop kicked the ground, hitting dirt. I smiled again as he reacted to my order to hold position, and then stomped, sliding my foot ahead after.

It was an effective fake out. Azrael tore from the ground, hitting the Machop's feet, and flipping it head over heels. "Scratch him now, Azrael," I yelled and watched as Azrael finished off the Machop with a flurry of scratching, sending bits of flesh and blood flying everywhere.

The kid returned his pokemon with another glare and sent out his next pokemon. It was a small blue rat with a jagged tail and a blue bulb at its end. He is going to try and combat Azrael with water. "Tackle that rodent, Azrael! Pound it into the dirt!" I ordered. Azrael rushed forward.

"Mimi, spray the dirt out from underneath its feet! Then roll away," the trainer yelled. The Marill complied, and tripped Azrael before trying to roll-out away from him, but Azrael's momentum carried him into his opponent. The water rodent's small size ended up placing her entirely in Azrael's open mouth, which he closed immediately.

The trainer returned his pokemon immediately before Azrael could chew. "I'm still not scared of your dragon!" he yelled rebelliously, with a scowl on his face. He released a small green bird whose head nearly made up its entire body. It had small feet protruding underneath and it took to the air immediately. I recognized it as a Natu, the psychic/flying type pokemon. "Alright, jump and peck, Nero!"

It began flying, adding short teleports every second. It made it almost impossible to track the bird, as it would teleport in a random direction, but the small bird was hitting new air currents with every jump, making it difficult to maneuver beyond teleportation. Azrael was trying to bite it but it would teleport in, peck him, and then teleport away before he could land a hit. "Azrael, spin and breathe fire!" I called out. He obeyed and he let loose a ring of fire around him.

The fire hit the Natu, causing it to stop teleporting for a couple seconds while it dealt with the pain. It was just enough time for Azrael to close his jaws around the bird. The Natu then reappeared ten feet away from Azrael's closed mouth, with singed wings. It teleported nearby again and pecked away at Azrael, who tried to swat him out of the air in vain. "Sandstorm, Azrael," I ordered, and he responded with a stomp on the ground, causing the dirt to swirl around him.

As soon as he disappeared into the storm, I stomped twice on the ground. He invisibly submerged and I waited. The bird disappeared and I stomped and slid my foot. The unnatural force of wind in the sandstorm no doubt swept the Natu off balance when it reappeared, and allowed Azrael to take it by surprise after the bird did not hit its target. I saw the small bird flung from the storm and skid on the ground. It was returned soon after.

"Dammit, that dragon is tough," the boy said to himself. He took out another ball and released his final pokemon. A Skarmory stood in front of Azrael, cawing and showing its toothy beak. At its trainer's command, the metal bird charged. I stomped twice and Azrael invisibly submerged again inside his storm. "Faster, Apollo," the boy shouted, and the Skarmory started making short leaps in speed forward. I stomped and slid my foot.

It was moving quickly and passed through the sandstorm with its metal feathers held out in a slicing motion. It was not, however, quick enough to avoid Azrael. It emerged from the sandstorm, trying to blink dirt from its eyes, and the ground tore from beneath it. It tripped, leaving Azrael standing above it.

"Azrael, breathe fire now!" I yelled. He blew fire onto the steel bird and the bird squawked in pain. It still raised itself up, though, and launched itself at Azrael, landing a piercing blow into Azrael's chest with its sharp feathers, drawing blood. Azrael responded by scratching and blowing fire, tearing out feathers and causing unbearable burns. They brawled like that for about ten seconds before the Skarmory keeled over. "Good job, Azrael! Come back over here," I said triumphantly.

Azrael did not listen. He continued to tear away at the Skarmory until the boy returned it. He then spun around with a fury in his eyes. I quickly returned him, recognizing his blood rage. "Dammit! Apollo, I'm sorry," the boy said to the pokeball in his hand. He then looked at me and said, "Here's your money, douchebag," and then threw me some cash. He then stomped off towards the elevator. I picked up the 500Pb and pocketed them while Sheila looked on, unimpressed.

I found Azrael's health at 67%, and then released him. He was still snarling, but my hand on his spiracle was able to calm him down after a few moments. "Wow, you know how to take a hit, don't you? You fought very well. Thank you for taking that kid down a notch."

Azrael nodded and huffed, nuzzling me on the arm. I patted him on the head and released my other two pokemon. "So when do you want to head out?" I asked Sheila.

"Well whenever you're done stroking your ego and beating up little kids, anytime soon would be fine," she said impatiently.

"Whoa. What's your problem? He challenged me, Sheila," I said defensively.

"He was mad that your pokemon attacked his, and that you didn't show much remorse or effort to keep him from doing it in the first place. I'm sure you would be pissed if someone attacked your pokemon for no reason and out of the blue," she accused.

I thought about that for a little bit and then said, "He still pushed for the fight. I gave him the opportunity to back down. I did reprimand Gilles anyway, though I didn't think it was that bad in the first place."

"That's not the point!" said Sheila, exasperated. "Gilles provoked him with no cause, and that tends to make people angry!"

"Fine," I said. "If I see him again, I'll apologize." Inwardly I did feel like she was in the right and I was in the wrong.

"You better. You were kinda mean, you know?" she said. "Gilles, you are getting your master in trouble," she pointed at him. Gilles avoided eye contact and looked away, though he continued to grin deviously.

My acceptance of Sheila's argument seemed to calm her down, and we headed up to the cafeteria after returning our pokemon to their pokeballs. After another burger, we packed up our belongings and returned our Pokecenter sweats after retrieving our clothes. I found the blonde-haired kid at the pokemon medical check-in counter on my way out.

"Hey, man. I realize that my behavior towards you and your pokemon was disrespectful and I would like to apologize for it," I said.

"Oh, whatever. Just watch out next time. You won't be so lucky. My pokemon will get stronger, and then I'll pound you into the ground," he said resentfully. "I accept your apology but you've beaten me, and in so doing, harmed my pokemon. It's on. See you on the road," the boy said. He then finished up at the counter and left.

"Wow. Talk about holding a grudge," Sheila said.

"No kidding," I responded.

"Well, he seems like the kind of trainer who won't be satisfied until he beats you. Guess you have a rival now. Good job. See what being mean gets you?" Sheila chastised.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I was a dick and now I've made an enemy. Can we get past this? I've learned my moral lesson," I said, exasperated. Sheila harrumphed and headed out of the Pokemon Center.

We then headed to the Trainer's Trader to whom I sold the products of my hunts. I sold all of my furs, claws, antlers, and pokemon baubles to him, and walked away with my pockets figuratively full. I then walked to a pokemon trade house, sponsored by the Pokemon Traders Guild, and found a representative.

"I have an infant Teddiursa I would like to sell," I told him.

"Oh wow, that's a pretty nice catch. Hope its momma didn't give you too much trouble," he said with a wink.

I gave him a blank stare and simply said, "Don't." The representative did not pursue it further and gave me a price after five minutes.

"If you want to part with the Teddi, we will give you 10,000Pb for him," he said. I knew Teddiursa could fetch a very high price due to their mix of cuteness and ferocity. Furthermore, if they were trained well, they could be sold as cute house pokemon, which developed an attachment to children and served as protective pets. I took the money after a small period of deliberation, and then left, finding no reason to linger.

I immediately deposited all but 1,000Pb into my bank account and marveled at how much I had accrued. I had 56,000Pb in my account, which gave me the means with which I could buy many useful items, so I decided to shop for supplies after I met with my parents and Sheila's sister.

After stopping by the bank, Sheila said to me, "Well let's head over to your parents' house. I'm sure they can't wait to see you." I looked in the direction of my parents' house and nodded. Together, we walked through the bustling city towards my suburban home.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gible

Gilles – Haunter

Raeda – Ninjask

**Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Kara – Roselia

Larry – Flaaffy

Lady – Ledyba

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Author's Note:

Well, we officially have a traveling companion now. Raeda also evolved! Fun stuff this chapter and fun stuff to come!


	6. Chapter 6: Return to the Forest

Chapter 6

My parents were very happy to see me, despite their disapproval of my career choice. They enjoyed meeting Sheila and were somewhat relieved to know that I was not traveling alone, though I personally believe that I am never alone when I have my pokemon. Since my parents' new house was outside of the city on the Eastern side, technically I was allowed to have any pokemon I wanted out of their pokeballs and so was Sheila, but we waited until we had arrived to release them.

"Wow! He's gotten a LOT bigger," observed my father, looking at Azrael. "Has he remained obedient? Has he caused any trouble for you?"

"If anything, our friendship has grown stronger. The same can be said for Gilles. In fact, Azrael has helped me in many difficult situations, and has shown a degree of protectiveness," I responded, conveniently leaving out the details of the particular hardships I had faced in Viridian Forest. "I have even caught a new pokemon; her name is Raeda."

I released Raeda to show my parents and she buzzed around happily, surprising them. My mother did not look too impressed by any of my pokemon and chose to converse with Sheila while I talked to my father.

"I've beaten two trainers now. Actually, Sheila is the only trainer to have beaten me, and it was close. Did you know she has two badges already? And I still almost beat her!" I told my father.

"How did that little girl beat your dragon?" my father asked.

"Her Roselia paralyzed Azrael with spores and then beat him from a distance. I'm instituting new drills to compensate for his shortcomings in distance battling, now. I'm even going to shop for technical machines for him and my other pokemon so that they can fight effectively at a distance," I said.

"Those can be very expensive," my father said nervously. He might have thought that I was going to ask him for money.

"Yeah. I realize T.M.'s are expensive, but I've accrued a bit of money from my gains in hunting," I said, dissolving that possible illusion in my head. "Today, I sold a Teddiursa that I caught for 10,000."

"How did you manage to get ahold of one?" he asked with a very surprised look.

"Its mother died so I caught it," I lied. I did not want my parents worrying any more about me than usual, or using it as an excuse to harangue me more about the dangers of training, so I left out the attack.

My father's face did not show belief, but it did not show disbelief, and he said, "Mhmm. Well have you thought about what other pokemon you want to use? I'm sure they will be just as dangerous as a dragon and a ghost."

"I have. I want to catch a water pokemon, a fire pokemon, and a psychic pokemon. I haven't decided what I want yet, but I need some diversity. Plus, I feel that circumstances can sometimes lead you to catch a less than ideal pokemon who turns out to be exceptional, so I do not want to rely on planning for specific pokemon. Look at Gilles. I wanted a Gastly whom I could train up from its beginning stage, but I caught a Haunter, instead, and he has exceeded my expectations on more than one occasion. So I think I'll play it by ear as far as deciding what exact pokemon I want out of those categories," I explained to him.

My father nodded and looked me in the eyes. He said, "Well when you catch a fire pokemon, give me a call. I know certain techniques to training fire pokemon that you might find valuable."

I nodded back and said, "I will. Thank you. Azrael has some rudimentary fire skills and I intend to buy a more advanced fire technique tomorrow."

"Just make sure you aren't on the target end of the fire," my father said with a small chuckle. He had more than a few burns as monuments to his wisdom.

We stood in silence for a while. Sheila was talking to my mother and my mother had her arms crossed. I did not know the topic of their conversation, but I hoped Sheila was not giving my mother a bad impression of me and my training methods.

"So, this girl," my father nudged. "Did you lose to her on purpose?" He wore a sly grin.

"Of course not!" I exclaimed. "I would never let my pokemon be harmed for something like that."

My father laughed and held up his hands. "It was only a joke. How long will you be staying home?"

"Sheila's pokemon was injured and needs to rest for a few days before she can use him again. Larry, her Flaaffy, lost an arm in a fight. We will be staying until he's ready to train again and then we will help each other through Viridian Forest. We both plan on battling the Pewter City gym leader, so there's little reason not to travel together," I explained.

My father was listening intently and he inquired about the two badges she had. "She is actually from Hoenn. She's training here because her father is the next gym leader she needs to face, and she doesn't want to fight him yet." He nodded again. "As it is, I will probably accompany her to her sister's home and return here for the night."

"Alright. Well it's good to see you before you start taking on the gyms," my father said. "Also, let us know when you have an upcoming gym battle and we will watch you on LeagueWatch. Your mother would like to watch, too. She may seem distant and apathetic, but she cares and would like to see you succeed as well, even if it isn't in the life we wanted you to have."

I thanked him and we made plans to have lunch inside the house, after I introduced Sheila to Blazerunner. She also explored my room, which I did not approve of. "Oh wow, you have a lot of books on pokemon," Sheila exclaimed after combing through my desk. "Did you not have a life or friends?" she asked jokingly.

"No. I didn't have many friends growing up." I responded, reflecting on the many lonely nights I spent reading about wonderful pokemon.

"Oh… Well it explains how you know so much about so many pokemon," she said awkwardly, and we then proceeded to lunch. It was a small lunch, in which Sheila rambled on about Hoenn and her family. My parents did not mind, and neither did I, for I just wanted to sit quietly and eat, so we indulged her monologue.

After that, Sheila and I said goodbye to my parents for the time being and proceeded to Sheila's sister's house. She looked at her GPS for a couple minutes before exclaiming, "Oh! Hey my sister doesn't live too far from here! Three blocks that way, and four blocks to the right." She was smiling, and it was difficult not to be affected by her cheerfulness.

We walked down the street with our pokemon returned to their balls. It was acceptable to have them out in our private residences, but it was also courteous to other pedestrians to keep scary looking pokemon in their balls while commuting.

We finally arrived at Sheila's sister's house, which was larger than my parents' new house. It also had more land, so I concurred that they had to be somewhat wealthy. We walked up the stone stairs to the front door and Sheila knocked. There was a momentary pause before the door was opened by a tall woman who looked very much like Sheila. She had brown eyes, brown hair, and a fair amount of freckles. She was wearing jeans and a green t-shirt, and had a scar over her nose.

"Oh? Back so soon?" Elaina exclaimed with a large grin and with the same accent as Sheila's. "I've heard Viridian Forest is a doozy but you've only been gone a week!" I noticed a Floatzel looking at me from behind her. "Who is your friend?" Elaina asked.

Sheila looked at me and said, "Actually, I found this guy and beat him! He gave me a bit of a challenge and we're both headed to Pewter, so now we're traveling together. We just came from his parents' home a few blocks away."

I introduced myself and upon hearing my last name, Elaina said, "Oh my god! Your father is Patrick MacAfee, the Rapidash breeder who lost everything last year… My condolences." I nodded awkwardly and thanked her for her empathy. She then said, "Well my husband Charles won't be home until later but you two are welcome to come inside."

We did so and relaxed on a couple comfortable couches in the den. I inquired about Elaina's husband's profession, as well as hers, and she said, "Charles is a lobbyist for BioTech and I bring in some extra money with my trainer tutoring. Charles makes a lot, which is why we can afford such a wonderful house." Of course I knew about BioTech. It was the company that created the translation devices for pokemon and almost held a monopoly on technical machine sales. It also worked on many other technological innovations relating to pokemon and their owners.

I nodded and looked at the three-foot-tall orange otter-like pokemon who had jumped on Sheila. "My Floatzel's name is Joey. He isn't very trusting of strangers, so don't be offended at his standoffishness towards you. I have a Manectric, too, but I sent him home to my father's gym back in Hoenn so that he could continue training; he loves training and I didn't have the heart to keep him cooped up here. Avery is somewhere up in the sky outside. He's a Staravia. What pokemon do you have?" she asked.

"I have a Gible, a Haunter, and a Ninjask," I said proudly.

"You have two evolved pokemon and haven't earned a badge yet? Is the Gible Kira's offspring?" she asked.

"I have been training in Viridian forest for over a month before I take on any gym leaders. And yes, Azrael, my Gible, is Kira's brood."

"Oh wow. That Gible must be a stud," she said. I nodded and she continued, "It's good that you aren't trying to rush things. I'm sure Sheila told you about my experience, and I rushed the circuit when I competed. And a Haunter? I don't even want to know how you are able to train one. It sounds like a pretty sound start. Now, I would like to talk to Sheila for a few minutes in private, if you wouldn't mind."

I did not mind, so the two women disappeared into another room. I leaned back into the couch and noticed Joey sitting in the middle of the den, staring at me. He moved over to the top of the coffee table in front of me, and sat there, continuing his uneasy gaze. He tilted his head slightly to the right when I awkwardly shuffled where I sat.

"Uh… Hi there," I said. The Floatzel did not react. To put a barrier between us, I picked up a newspaper from the coffee table and opened it up wide. There were a few articles which took my attention away from the awkward water pokemon, and which helped to pass the time.

The first was a story about BioTech's up-and-coming fishing pole that boasted an 85% capture rate, with a smart hook that molded into the most effective type of hook upon being eaten. There were a few reports of crime in the city, which was not all that uncommon, given that Viridian City was a large concentration of people; one of those was a story about a boy whose pokemon had been stolen. The last story was about a protest that had been staged by Pokeadvocates outside of a BioTech laboratory, and which had not made much progress.

When the two women returned to the den, I noticed Sheila's cheeks were a little flushed but thought nothing of it. We made plans for dinner that evening and spent much time talking about Charles, pokemon, and some recent reality shows. It was not my ideal use of time, but I gave Sheila my word that I would accompany her. After an hour, I suggested that we go to the store to look at T.M.'s, and Sheila thankfully agreed.

Elaina even wanted to come along, and said, "I'll come with you both. Charles receives discounts on BioTech merchandise. They don't expect him to need pokemon tech, which is why they gave him the perk. It's about time we got a little use out of it." I was very grateful for that and expressed my gratitude to Elaina, since I knew that T.M.'s would be expensive.

We took a subway to center city and after we exited the station, Elaina released Joey, who then walked beside her. Five-minutes passed before we arrived at a very modern looking building labeled 'BioTech: for trainers and their teams.' We entered and I made my way to the T.M. section to look at the brochures for the various techniques.

I took note of the price differences. In general, the more powerful or uncommon a technique was, the more expensive it was. They ranged from 8,000Pb for the more common techniques, to 25,000Pb for the more powerful techniques; among those were ice beam, hyper beam, solar beam, and close combat.

I was not interested as much in the most powerful moves; those could come in time. I needed a T.M. or two for Azrael and for Gilles which they could develop over time. Raeda had enough on her plate at the moment with her recent evolution and new flying combat style, so I left her out of consideration in my choices. I immediately picked out the T.M. Flamethrower, a technique that allows pokemon to project their fiery breath to great distances and with great force, in a steady stream. Through training, pokemon could learn to project the stream farther and farther as they become more adept; I think the record distance for a sustained stream of fire was set by 21st Indigo League Champion Red's Charizard whose fire could reach a ridiculous 1,129 feet. None have come close since then.

"Good choice. And only 12,000Pb" said Elaina, looking over my shoulder.

"Ooh! I'm getting this for Kara," exclaimed Sheila, holding up a brochure for a grass-type move called Energy Ball. I looked at the brochure and found that it was a move which drew in energy specifically from the surrounding foliage and then released it as a ball of natural energy. The burst of energy would sometimes also drain the foe's ability to fend off non-physical attacks. I looked at the compatibility chart and found Haunter on the list.

A grass-type attack would be very valuable to have for both the Pewter City gym challenge and the Cerulean City gym challenge, and it was also more valuable as a ranged attack for Gilles. It was a good combination in my head so I looked for my own brochure to trade in for the T.M. Energy Ball. Sheila saw me reaching for it and stopped me before saying, "Hey, why don't you get a T.M. that one of my pokemon can use alongside yours, and I'll have Kara teach it to whomever you want it taught to?"

It was a great idea, so I agreed and then resumed browsing through the various techniques. There were not many T.M.'s that were cross-compatible with my pokemon and hers, but eventually, a T.M. called Shadow Ball caught my eye. It was a technique that allowed the user to condense the shadows around him into a quasi-physical force and project it towards an opponent. It was also capable of disrupting psychic energy.

I knew Gilles would learn it eventually, but it would not be a bad idea to teach him the move early, in order for him to have more time to develop the attack. It could also be taught to Roselia and Ninjask. I grabbed the brochure and addressed Sheila, "How about this T.M.? It's called Shadow Ball and it would allow Kara to combat psychics, one of her natural weaknesses, by disrupting their psychic powers with shadow energy."

Sheila agreed almost instantly after hearing that it would help Kara compensate for one of her natural weaknesses. It was 15,000Pb, which was bearable for me. I looked around some more and found an interesting move that could benefit Azrael called Bulldoze. It allows a pokemon to lift dirt, sand, and other earthen particles, with the same force that the pokemon uses to create sandstorms, into a wave. The pokemon then pushes it forward with great force, slamming it into another pokemon. Among other problems the move causes for other pokemon, it hampers their ability to move quickly, due to the weight of the mud and clay, and it getting into their eyes.

That technique would be very useful, and cost 15,000Pb, so I picked it out. Overall, the price for those three T.M.'s would have cost me 39,000Pb. With Charles' discount card, we received a fabulous 15% discount, which saved me almost 6,000Pb. That left me with around 18,000Pb that was going to be used for supplies and/or kept in the bank in case I needed it later. I figured that I could do without a translation device for the time being, so I would not have to worry about the cost draining my funds. Furthermore, gym battles were not free or cheap, so I would need to save money.

I immediately linked the one-time-use T.M.'s to their respective pokemon and we headed back to the subway metro station. We decided to meet for dinner at 7:30, and in the meantime, I asked Sheila to come with me to the rundown reserve where I had met Azrael. I asked her to accompany me for several reasons. The first was that I simply wanted to show her the place. The second was that I wanted her to know where we would meet for training while we were home, since pokemon training did not end just because we were not in the wilderness. Sheila, of course, was loath to hear that she could not spend the entire time in Viridian City relaxing. The third reason was that I did not want to wait for four hours while Sheila and her sister chattered on like annoying teenage Mankey.

Sheila agreed to come along, and when we arrived, I showed her the burrow. She was awed by the intricacy of the subterranean system of tunnels and expressed her wonder while I led her to Azrael's den. Once there, Azrael curled up in his old nest, though he was far too big anymore to fully fit inside.

After we left the tunnels, we held a short training session during which Azrael practiced his flame thrower and bulldoze techniques, Gilles practiced his shadow ball technique, and Kara practiced her energy ball technique. I told Raeda to see if she could mimic Gill's shadow ball while he learned to use it, and she tried very hard to appease me, having a difficult time with it but showing promise.

After practicing, we left the reserve and headed back to Viridian City to have dinner with Elaina and Charles. It was a very nice meal of baked Goldeen and vegetables. And Sheila was not joking when she said they lived in their own little world. They nearly forgot we were there when staring into each other's eyes and drinking some wine during a lull in the conversation. During that time, at least I could talk to Sheila to keep myself from eating in awkward silence.

Before dinner, Charles did not talk much about his job since he had to work on a project for a government proposal. He went back to work immediately after dinner as well. We then called it a night and agreed to meet at the reserve at 9:00. I walked home and found my parents watching the news when I arrived.

They asked me simple questions about dinner and my day before they stood up and my mother said, "I know we aren't going to convince you to give up the Indigo League. But we do want to make sure you are safe. You didn't call very much during the last month."

"We are making some money now, which is better than before," said my father. "Our savings had allowed us to keep the house while I tried to restart my business, but that fell through when Blazerunner refused to breed with any mare brought to him. We have a little money now so you don't need to worry about us, but we worry about you. What if you aren't as great of a trainer as you think and your pokemon turn on you? How do you know they will be able to protect you?" he asked worriedly.

"I understand, and I promise to call more often. Believe me though, my pokemon are getting stronger very quickly. You will see on TV when I get to Pewter City. If it will make you feel any better, I will quit training if I am not able to beat Cerulean City's gym leader," I promised on impulse. That silenced them for a few moments.

"You'll really come home if you lose?" my mother asked?

"I will," I replied, almost regretting the promise. But I had taken Sheila's words to heart that I was more than ready for the first gym. "I'm sure that we won't lose, but if I have truly misjudged our abilities and we lose, then I will give it up."

Saying that, I believe, showed them that I was willing to be reasoned with. But it also might have given my parents hope that I would fail, and my facial expression probably reflected that thought. My father finally said after a few more moments, "We never wanted you to be a pokemon trainer. Frankly, we think it is much too dangerous and wrong for children to attempt to train wild monsters. But we also would never want you to fail at anything you set your mind to. Although we do not want you risking your life day in and day out, we will be cheering for you here at home."

"We are immensely proud of you for leading your own life so confidently," my mother added. "We want you to know that we support you, despite our disagreements over training."

I was touched and I thanked them before they both embraced me. They went to bed afterwards and I walked outside where my pokemon were relaxing. Azrael had fallen asleep so I returned him, and I returned Gilles as well. Raeda was still awake and listening to the soft sounds of the night, so I decided against returning her to her pokeball and said, "Raeda, let's go inside and go to bed. We're going to resume training in the morning and I can't wait to see how well you can use your new abilities."

Raeda chittered happily and flew around me. She landed on my back and nestled there as I walked inside. I decided that she was small enough to fit in the house and sleep in my bed with me. I was happy that my parents were finally starting to come around; it was nice to have them cheering for me.

Unfortunately, I had made a hasty promise, which meant that I could not lose a gym battle. Promising to end my journey if I failed (though I never had the intention of failing, or even the thought of it) meant that I had pressure. Despite the pressure, tomorrow would start a new day with new opportunities for success.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The next two days were full of technique training and drills for my pokemon and I. Sheila was not as disciplined, choosing to arrive late most days, but she did take time to train her pokemon in her own way. Though she took some lessons from my training style, she mostly held to her own. Unlike me, she would only occasionally partake in low-intensity drills with her pokemon, preferring to play with them instead.

The difference in our training styles was evident in the fact that I could run much longer and faster than Sheila. In general, I was in much better shape because I practiced alongside my pokemon. I personally believed that I was morally obligated to reciprocate their suffering. Sheila seemed to look at pokemon training as more of a game, but she still at least knew that the contrary was true. Though she took a light-hearted approach to training, she was very serious when it came to competition.

During the next couple of days, I found that my pokemon were quickly learning how to hone their newly acquired abilities. Gilles surprised me and Sheila by showing a warped affinity for the energy ball technique. When Kara, and most pokemon for that matter, use energy ball, she draws in energy from all the plants around her to charge the move. This leaves the plants around her alive and well by only taking a fraction of energy from many sources.

Gilles, on the other hand, would focus his energy draw from a single or a few sources, charging the ball at the same speed, if not faster. The problem with that method, or upside in his case, was that the sources he drew from would suffer massive energy loss and would then shrivel and die.

I had no problem with that method, for in my opinion, the world was no worse off with a few flowers or bushes missing. Sheila was not particularly happy with this new development, and voiced her opinion only once. After I showed apathy towards her argument and even encouragement for Gilles' behavior, she decided it was not worth the effort to argue.

Gilles' shadow ball was a bit weaker than his energy ball, but it showed great promise. He would draw in a dark aura from the various shadows, including his own, and release it at his targets, often destroying them with the force of the attack.

Raeda was going to need practice with the shadow ball. Her technique was weaker than Gilles' but it could be developed over time to be effective.

Azrael's exceptional bulldozing skills quickly became apparent. By the end of our stay he could raise a pile of dirt slightly shorter than himself and several feet thick, and send it quickly and forcefully crashing into his targets. He could imbue those earthy waves with so much force, even though he was a Gible, that he could topple small trees in two or three attempts.

Azrael's flamethrowing was not as strong as his bulldozing ability, but it was still very strong as well. From the beginning, Azrael could project his fiery breath to a distance of 15 feet. By the time we left, he could project it 25 feet.

I instituted an exercise regimen to supplement our technique practice as well. I ran sprints with Azrael, sometime climbing onto his back to weigh him down. Although, when I did climb on this back, I cheered him on and praised him for his effort. When he exhausted himself, I would rub his scaly back and sides, talking to him and praising him for doing well. He enjoyed those respites from training and would occasionally nip me afterwards.

I had Gilles and Raeda participating in speed drills, which doubled as toughness training for Gilles. Raeda was becoming so fast that Gilles could only avoid a fraction of her attacks. She was learning to control her speed quickly, which gave her an edge above all of her teammates. Sometimes she would hit Gilles so much that he would throw fits and try to hit her with energy balls or shadow balls, and I had to return him to his ball to let him settle down.

I admired the progress my pokemon made frequently and gave them ample praise. Sheila took notice of the way I praised my pokemon and occasionally commented on our positive and admirable team-family dynamic, though she showed mixed emotions. One day she would praise my training methods and the next she would be giving me the silent treatment.

Of course, the episodes of the silent treatment could have been attributed to little outbursts that I caused. For instance, on one such occasion, I noticed her sprinting alongside her pokemon and commented on how slow she was moving. I was rewarded with a few spores being flung at me, which attached to my skin and dug in before causing burning rashes.

Some of those spores hit Azrael as well, which pissed him off. I waited a few seconds for him to get an attack off before stopping him. He blew a line of fire at Kara and Sheila, which singed some of Sheila's hair and burnt some of the petals on Kara's red flower. Sheila then stormed off with her pokemon and I had to stop by Elaina's house to apologize. Perhaps those kinds of incidents had something to do with her mood swings…

That particular situation gave me an idea. After asking Sheila to help, she too-happily agreed to let Kara hit me and my pokemon with spores, which I thought was slightly crazy. My goal was to help my pokemon develop a resistance to the spores, and I participated a few times because I felt that it was fair that I share the pain of the spores if I made my pokemon suffer through it. I bought a large amount of medicine for both me and my pokemon and by the end of those few days, my pokemon had become noticeably more resistant to the spores.

Azrael had become faster because of the spores, for they forced him to give extra effort in the sprints, lest he seize up. I was in constant misery as well, and Sheila seemed to enjoy herself at first but she started feeling sorry for us and ceased her mockery. I even thought I caught her looking at me and my pokemon with admiration a couple times, but the looks quickly changed to that of empathy.

After Larry had healed up, we were ready to return to the wilderness. I was confident in my pokemons' rudimentary knowledge of their new attacks, as well as their adept knowledge of their old moves, to spare no time spurring our flight from home. Sheila's pokemon were ready as well. Larry's stub of an arm had healed over and his electricity was as powerful as ever.

During the day before we set out, I shopped for supplies. I bought medicine for myself and my pokemon, a light jacket, replaced my lost arrows, and, after seeing how lucrative selling pokemon was, I bought more pokeballs. After my funds had taken a beating, I had 20 pokeballs and five Greatballs.

After saying our goodbyes, we set out again towards Viridian Forest. Sheila and I walked side-by-side, talking about everything and nothing, Azrael lumbered forward on my other side, Gilles flew around giggling, Larry and Kara followed on Kara's other side, and Raeda and Lady buzzed happily overhead. We continued on as Viridian Forest loomed ahead, growing larger and denser as we approached.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Luckily, our nights did not host any re-enactments of our last incident in Viridian Forest, but we still had our fair share of stress and life-threatening situations. To top it off, the forest was growing colder by the day due to winter's approach. My pokemon received plenty of fighting training during our hunting, which we pursued during our northern-bound hike through the forest and for a couple hours at the end of the day. To appease Sheila, I only allowed my pokemon to kill another pokemon if they intended to eat it.

Raeda helped Azrael and Gilles hunt but did not need as much to eat as them, and only tended to eat other smaller insects. I also ate what I hunted, though I would share my kills and my pokemon would share theirs. Throughout our journey through Viridian Forest, I lived off of a very redundant diet of bird meat, small mammals, and occasionally deer meat. Our travel was also slow-going, for I insisted on drills three times per day.

Sheila came to respect and appreciate the value of drilling when we compared pokemon levels out of curiosity one night, after about a week and a half of travel through the forest. When we had first battled, Lady was level 10, Larry was 20, and Kara was 25. Raeda was 15, Gilles was 19, and Azrael was 20. After daily training and battling wild pokemon, Azrael had risen to 24, Gilles to 23, and Raeda to 20. Sheila's pokemon had not advanced nearly as fast. Lady was 12, Larry was 21, and Kara was 26.

Raeda had jumped up so fast because she had the opportunity to train with much higher leveled pokemon. After seeing the change in pokemon levels, Sheila started becoming more diligent in drilling her pokemon, though she always reserved ample time to play with them.

Our journey through Viridian Forest took us almost three weeks. During that time, we had multiple growing experiences. Aside from the monotonous walking during the day, we found ourselves in a couple situations best avoided.

We did have some luck, though. During the first week of traveling, I caught a Butterfree. Like most bug pokemon, Butterfree evolve quickly and easily, but being the third evolved form of its species, it is not to be trifled with. I knew that fact before trying to catch it, but tried to anyway.

We entered a clearing and I saw one fluttering a few hundred feet away amidst a patch of multi-colored wildflowers. "Hey Sheila, hold back. I'm going to try and catch that Butterfree," I said. Sheila nodded and took a couple steps back into the trees as I advanced.

"Azrael, I want you to submerge and when you come up beneath it, I want you to create a sandstorm immediately. I will shoot an arrow underneath it so you will know where to come up," I told him. He stomped the ground and submerged.

"Raeda, I need you to catch the Butterfree's attention so it doesn't notice me shoot an arrow. Fly around it, screeching and leeching its life," I told my little bug. "Go now."

Raeda took off while I drew my bow. She was creating havoc almost instantly as I ran up about a hundred feet. I then shot an arrow directly into the dirt beneath the Butterfree, and Azrael, whom I was sure had been following my movement underground, emerged a few seconds later underneath the Butterfree. His momentum coming out of the ground brought a flood of dirt and the flying particles started rotating around him instantly.

"Gilles, I need you to confuse the Butterfree before it hurts Raeda!" I yelled to my ghost. Gilles' raced ahead of me and sent wave after wave of confusing rays at the flying bug. It was trying to hit Raeda, but she was fast enough to avoid the strong purple beams of psychic energy being fired at her, leaving deep craters in the ground. Before Gilles was close enough to help, the Butterfree sent a cloud of powder into the air, through which Raeda flew.

I saw her fall through the air and skid along the ground as Azrael emerged, and as Gilles started trying to confuse it. Gilles' confusing rays interfered with the Butterfree's psychic abilities, preventing it from firing beams of mental energy at Gilles or Azrael. Gilles then barraged the Butterfree with shadow ball after shadow ball, pummeling it at a distance.

I took out a pokeball and ran over to Raeda. I noticed the Butterfree struggle and break free from the sandy vortex but dip fairly low to the ground due to the weight of the dirt piling on top of it. "Azrael! Bulldoze!" I yelled and the swirling sandstorm condensed into a wall of dirt and surged towards the bug. The force of the wave hit the bug and slammed it down into the ground.

I saw it twitching and trying to get up, so I threw the pokeball with as much force as I could, hitting its wing and making it disappear. My pokemon and I waited, watching the pokeball twitch for ten seconds before it came to a stop. "Yes! Good job all of you! That was damn near perfect," I cheered smiling. Raeda had flown through a cloud of sleep powder and had fallen asleep, but other than that, it could not have gone much better. I would wake her up momentarily.

I took a few steps towards the pokeball and heard a commotion behind me. I looked back, expecting Sheila to have disturbed another Ursaring, and found her battling a small green humanoid wearing what looked like a white dress. I saw Sheila suddenly lifted a couple inches off the ground and thrown to the side while her pokemon pummeled their opponent with different attacks.

I recognized the pokemon as a Ralts; a psychic pokemon that could become very powerful, and scary to boot. I started running over after returning Raeda, with Azrael and Gilles on my tail. I then saw Sheila get up and pull out a pokeball. She wound up and threw the ball at the little pokemon, bouncing it off of the Ralts' head.

The psychic pokemon disappeared and the ball wobbled a bit. "Kara, drop spores if you see it fail! Larry, get another electric wave ready. Lady, come back here so you don't get hit," she ordered her pokemon. I stopped and watched as the pokeball burst apart.

Immediately spores were released and a wave of electricity hit the Ralts at the same time. Kara followed up the attack with some leaves while the Ralts teleported a short distance away, but the paralysis brought on by the spores and the electricity was having a strong effect. Sheila threw another ball. This time the ball wobbled for ten seconds before becoming motionless.

This was the main difference between trainer battles and wild pokemon fights. In a trainer battle, there were rules governing the amount of pokemon allowed to take place, but in the wild, all of your pokemon could be used as a team to take down a pokemon or to capture it. Pokemon teamwork is something that most trainer battles lack.

I smiled and ran back to retrieve my Butterfree. I registered it as caught and destined for storage, and I then released it for Gilles to put to sleep with hypnosis. The Butterfree would normally have been strong enough to resist Gilles, but being as weak as it was, it did not stand a chance. Putting it to sleep was the most humane way to transport it.

I then returned to Sheila, who was lecturing her new pokemon. "Now I don't want to see you attacking me or my pokemon anymore. When I release you, I want you to behave," she said with a high voice and a big smile. The Ralts looked bewildered. "This is my traveling companion and his pokemon. They won't hurt you." There was slight pause, "Yes I know the ghost is scary but he won't harm you."

"Do you understand it," I asked incredulously.

"She is communicating with me telepathically," said Sheila proudly. "The ghost's name is Gilles and he is a friend. Welcome to my family," she said excitedly. I smiled, happy for her. Ralts were high-potential pokemon with telepathic abilities.

The Ralts was a little unruly, but it seemed to be fairly young. As such, it did not take the Ralts long to become attached to her new team. With a loving family to raise her, the Ralts, whom Sheila named Shade, became a wonderful addition to Sheila's team.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

During the second week of our trek, after the woods had become as dark and cold as they would ever be, Sheila and I came across a wild scuffle. It was between a Pikachu and a Pidgeotto. The Pikachu was sending bolt after bolt of crackling lightning at the large bird, which seemed to be attacking the Pikachu's dwelling. The Pidgeotto was pecking and sending air waves at the little yellow rat while it kept dodging out of the way.

Eventually the Pikachu won out. It looked battered and beaten, though it had protected itself from its adversary. "Oh look, that makes me so happy to see. The cute little creature gets to live on after avoiding a predator," Sheila mused with a smile on her face.

I quickly gave Gilles an order and he became ethereal. He flew to the Pikachu and hypnotized it. I followed up with a quick throw of a pokeball and hit the Pikachu, catching it on the first try. Sheila gasped and glared at me angrily.

"Why?" she asked.

"one of the most knowable, cute, and popular pokemon in Kanto since Red beat the 20th Indigo League Champion has been a Pikachu," I explained. "Do you know what happened when people saw a cute pokemon wield such power under the Champion?" Sheila shook her head, still glaring.

"Trainers surged out into the wilderness to find them. They were caught by the thousands. Soon, though, people started finding out that Red's Pikachu was a one-of-a-kind member of its species. The majority of Pikachu are weak and mediocre at best in battle. The Pikachu started just taking up space in storage when people lost faith in their fighting capabilities. This Pikachu just took on a Pidgeotto and won. Can you imagine how much I can get for this?" I was smiling, thinking about the money this one little pokemon would bring in, but Sheila would not have it.

"So you saw a pokemon win and caught it while it was weak. Big accomplishment. Now fighting the bird was pointless because it doesn't get to keep its habitat," scorned Sheila.

"You don't think Azrael could have taken it?" I said, growing annoyed. "Azrael could have eaten it whole. The Pidgeotto just saved me the effort and revealed to me how strong that Pikachu was. I would have just passed it by if I didn't see that spectacle."

"You could have at least earned the victory by intervening instead of stealing it and shattering its life. Now it will most likely end up with some spoiled kid whose daddy can buy it. And it will probably meet the same fate as the rest of the Pikachu you told me about."

"Perhaps. But don't give me that. If you wanted the pokemon for your team, you would not have hesitated in taking it out of its habitat. Even if you are more competent than the next kid, you still only think about yourself and your team when you catch it, and not the pokemon's opinion."

"You're wrong. I give the pokemon a better life than it would have had out here," said Sheila on the defensive.

"But you don't ask the pokemon if they agree with you," I argued. "It's selfish. And that is what I'm being right now; selfish. I'm going to sell this Pikachu and hopefully it goes to someone who is like you and will give it a better life. But who it goes to is not my problem. Azrael, Gilles, and Raeda are the only pokemon I care about; the rest are cannon fodder."

"That is a horrible outlook," Sheila said with a frown. "So you only see pokemon as a means to an end?"

"Only the ones I don't own. If I started feeling sorry for every pokemon I ate, battled, or protected myself against, I would not get any better. The only thing that would grow in strength would be my sense of self-righteousness and self-righteousness doesn't win battles. Pokemon, as far as my team is concerned, are food, competition, and practice. Occasionally they can help me afford to make my team better with new techniques or medicine."

"Pokemon aren't objects. They have feelings and desires. Look at Azrael. He is intelligent and has emotions. It is wrong for you to think of all pokemon as objects. It's like refusing to help a helpless child simply because he is not your own."

"I didn't see you get upset when I caught my Butterfree. But then you had just taken a pokemon out of the wild as well! I don't' need your judgment. I'm done having this conversation," I stormed over to the pokeball and stored it with my belongings.

As we walked on in silence, I thought about what she said. I would have no problem helping a little child in danger, even if it was not my own child. Why did I view pokemon any differently? Maybe I had been cutting off my emotions and refusing to face the reality that pokemon are not simply mindless creatures, whose only use is target practice, because I did not want to feel guilty for my actions.

After brooding on it for a while, I exclaimed, "Dammit Sheila! Why do you have to make everything so difficult? I was going on just perfectly until you had to step in. Yes, pokemon shouldn't be used as means to an end. But how do you justify the entire league with that thinking?"

"Simple. By NOT viewing pokemon as a means to an end. You view your team as your family. As do I. But I try to treat wild pokemon with the respect that any living creature deserves. They have lives, as inconsequential to you as they may be, and don't deserve to be discarded without a second thought."

"Well maybe you're right. Pokemon are not objects. I get what you're saying and I'm inclined to agree with you. But a predator will prey on those weaker than it, regardless of its prey's feelings or opinions. That's how nature works. I will not feel bad for killing for food, but I will try to work on seeing it from their perspective."

"I'm happy you can admit that," Sheila said with a small smile. We kept on our journey after that, not bringing up the subject again. A simple matter of perspective can change everything. If I was not careful, I could end up becoming a Pokeadvocate. I shuddered at the thought. My outlook on pokemon had been flawed from the beginning; it was based on a double-standard. I viewed my pokemon differently than others and I needed to alter that viewpoint somewhat. However, it was not something that would happen quickly.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The last major occurrence happened during the end of our second week of travel. The environment was dim and crowded with trees and brush. We saw a flickering light in the distance, so we chose to investigate. It happened to be a few spots where sunlight was shining through the tops of the trees.

That area led to more patches of sunlight that opened up into various meadows of wildflowers. We chose to venture a short distance into the clearing, relishing the warmth of the evasive sun, but we did not venture farther in because I remembered the Sunflora incident and voiced my warning.

While skirting around the edges of the clearing, we started hearing a low buzzing and looked around, not able to find the source. We walked a little further and the buzzing became louder. It was not until Raeda screeched and pointed us in the direction of the sounds that we found the source. It was coming from above us. It was a hive, bigger than a house, stretching through multiple trees, and starting to leak Beedrill and Combee.

I looked towards Sheila and yelled, "RUN! Get Kara and Shade in their pokeballs!" before taking off. I looked over to see Azrael release a jet of fire at a dive-bombing Beedrill, hitting it but also hitting the hive. Very soon after, a multitude of protective bee pokemon poured out from the many honeycombs. Shit. "Azrael! Run now!" I shouted and we took off.

We ran, dodging through the trees. For my pokemon and I, this was just another session of our drills, though this time we had angry man-sized bees with two-foot long, needle-sharp stingers on their hands chasing us. Sheila was not used to the drills, though she had started practicing with us regularly a week prior, and as a result, was not nearly as prepared to run long distances at a fast pace.

The smaller Combee were much faster and more numerous than the Beedrill. "Gilles! Don't try to hypnotize them. There are too many and they will overwhelm you. Keep hidden and lick the Beedrills' wings, but don't get too far behind!" I ordered as we ran. "Raeda, fight off the little ones. You're fast enough to hit many of them quickly. Look out for Sheila as well," I commanded, and then called out to Azrael. "Azrael, keep up but make sure the Beedrill don't get too close. Use your fire."

Sheila was yelling commands at her pokemon as well. I noticed Lady buzzing around attacking the smaller Combee, like Raeda. Larry was running beside her, sending bolts of electricity towards the Beedrill. I looked back as I was running to see a cloud of bees swarming towards us and fear gripped me.

"Raeda!" I yelled. She immediately appeared next to me. "I need you to fly above us and find a stream. Do it as fast as possible. They won't follow us under water. Hurry!" She sped off into the air, faster than I could track, and I kept running. I would occasionally swat away a Combee after it stung my arm or back, but Gilles would always be there to finish the job by eating them whole or shooting them down with shadow energy. I saw Lady buzzing around Sheila, batting away the smaller bees.

Azrael would stop every couple of seconds to send a stream of fire back. It would hit one of the Beedrill, causing it to fall out of the air, but the swarm would evade the stream of fire by spreading out around it. I had to recall Azrael a couple times when he was falling too far behind, and then release him some feet ahead of me.

Even with Azrael's strong flamethrower and Larry's powerful lightning bolts, the Beedrill kept coming. Their exoskeletons were thick and durable, protecting the large insects from harm. Most of them shook off the electricity and flame damage and kept coming for us.

We had been sprinting for our lives for almost three minutes when Raeda finally returned. She buzzed in front of my face for a few seconds and started flying to the right. "Sheila! Follow me this way!" I yelled. I noticed she was having extreme difficulty keeping up with me. Her chest was heaving and she had a look of dismay on her face.

Our pokemon were looking worse for wear as well. Azrael, Larry, and Lady had a few puncture wounds on his arms and body, and Gilles' body had several tears. Raeda buzzed ahead and kept an eye on Sheila.

By that time the larger Beedrill were beginning to descend upon us. They were not as fast as their smaller compatriots, but they were still faster than us. It took them a bit longer to catch up, but when they started descending, we were in trouble. To get stung by one of those stingers would mean death. The venom would slow us down quickly, and that would leave us vulnerable to the rest of the merciless swarm. I had to dodge a couple of them, but they immediately caught fire as Azrael bellowed and released point-blank torrents of fire onto them.

Once, one fell from the sky in front of me, on fire and I noticed it twitching. I quickly took out a pokeball and threw it at the man-sized bug. I did not stop to see if it was caught, but kept running instead. Sheila was having more difficulty keeping up and I yelled, "Hold on Sheila! Raeda is taking us to a stream." She acknowledged what I said with a nod as she ran.

I then saw a Beedrill descend on her, which immediately received a bolt of lightning, and fell, rolling and skidding on the ground. I threw another pokeball and kept running. That happened twice more as we ran. I then noticed Sheila falling behind considerably, and had to slow down to keep from losing her.

Then fear gripped my heart as I saw three Beedrill descend at once towards Sheila. Larry could only focus on one and Lady boldly slammed into another; but that left one dangerous Beedrill unopposed. It flew ahead before reaching head height above the ground, right in front of Sheila, whose eyes grew in fright. The Beedrill's right-hand stinger spouted some venom as it wound up, and its compound eyes showed a multitude of frightened Sheilas.

Before the Beedrill could lunge, it immediately disappeared in a burst of red light as I hit it with a pokeball. The ball fell to the ground and wiggled once before breaking apart ten feet behind us as we left it in our dust. During that time, I thought another pokeball was thrown by Sheila, for I saw a bright light flash near her. I looked over to see a giant armored Ledian attacking the Beedrill, which was previously being attacked by Lady. There was no time to rejoice at her evolution, since we still had an angry horde chasing us, so I held my congratulations for when we reached safety. Raeda led us for another minute before I heard the stream.

I rejoiced inwardly before yelling, "Sheila *huff*, return Lady *huff* and jump in the stream!" I returned Gilles and Raeda and then yelled to Azrael, "Swim with me *huff*, Azrael." I reached the water and leapt into its cold embrace. I heard a muffled splash as Sheila entered the water after me, and I swam as best I could, with Azrael following, until I grabbed onto her.

We emerged and submerged multiple times, dodging the attacks of the mix of small and large bees. When we finally washed up on the shore, we had traveled several hundred feet down stream. The swarm had retreated back in the direction of the hive, and we just lay on the shore, heaving and thanking our lucky stars that Raeda had managed to find the stream.

We very quickly made a fire when the cold started setting in, which Azrael helped with, and laid our belonging out to dry. That included our clothes. We did not want to get ill from hypothermia so we were forced to leave our pride behind and rid ourselves of our wet clothing. We sat on opposite sides of the fire with our backs to the warm blaze, giving each other some privacy and peace of mind. Our pokemon also clung to us for added warmth after we administered antidotes and potions for their injuries.

After a long and awkward period of silence, I finally said aloud, "I'm happy you're here, Sheila. I'm not sure how I would have taken that alone."

"Same," she replied faintly from the other side of the fire.

"I don't think I told you, but I had a run-in with another swarm before I met you, though that one was of Spinarak. It was terrifying. I would have died if I didn't have Azrael and Gilles." Azrael groaned beside me, half because of pride for what I said and half because he was sore and worn out.

"That's scary. I know I would have died today if you hadn't been there. You literally saved my life with that pokeball trick."

I was silent for a little while. I really had saved her, I thought. "Who would have thought a pokeball could be used for protection when not being used to catch a pokemon," she finally said with a laugh and I laughed as well. "Thank you. I don't know how I can repay you."

"Hopefully you won't have to," I said. "Though I'm sure we can always disturb another colony of bug pokemon, piss them off, and provide me with a life-or-death situation that you can assist with," I laughed.

"I'd prefer not to," she laughed back. "This forest is so much tougher than it's made out to be. I hope we don't have to be here much longer."

"Yeah, me too. I miss the sun a little," I said back. I had found that the darkness was not too uncomfortable for me, but sunlight is a necessity and I felt like I had during the first month I spent in Viridian Forest.

"Kara is beginning to look a little worse for wear. I think sunlight would do her so much good. In that clearing, she looked so much more energetic."

"Gilles doesn't seem to mind the darkness much. Neither does Azrael or Raeda for that matter," I chuckled. "But I'm sure they wouldn't mind a little sunlight."

We both laughed and talked more for a couple hours while our clothes dried until we could put them back on again. It was starting to get late so we made camp and I told her I would be back in a little bit. When she asked where I was going, I said, "To get dinner. Don't worry, I'm bringing Azrael." I took my Azrael and Gilles, and told Raeda to stay with Sheila in case something happened while I was away.

I felt safe with Gilles because he was virtually invisible in the low light of the forest. He could look out for me while remaining hidden. I felt safe with Azrael because he was a nine-foot tall fire-breathing, earthquake-creating dragon. I would have felt safe with Raeda, as well. She was fast enough to warn me with an incredibly loud screech if something dangerous was to approach, but that is why I left her with Sheila. If anything happened, she could reach me quickly.

We made our way back along the trail upon which we had fled with Azrael leading the way. His seismic skills had developed into a more advanced form of detection, allowing him to find the path. Now he could tell the differences in density of the soil, making him an able tracker. We found our path and followed it back, making sure there were no stray bees.

I found three sets of pokeball parts, shattered by the pokemon breaking free. I eventually found two intact pokeballs with caught Beedrill resting inside. I also tracked down all of the dead bees I could find, taking a couple stingers and all of the venom sacks I could since Beedrill venom was valued for its use in creating both human and pokemon antidotes.

I also grabbed as many dead Combees as I could, for they would serve as dinner. The Beedrill were too heavy to carry back, so I let Azrael and Gilles eat their fill from their carcasses before we headed back to camp.

We arrived back at the camp about an hour and a half later to find Sheila lying down in her tent, talking with her pokemon. She looked at me approaching and said, "It's about time. I was beginning to worry about you. I found out that Shade can translate between my pokemon and me. It's so helpful!" Her newly evolved Ledian buzzed loudly around, now a little over a foot shorter than me, with a red and black armored carapace, blue slanted eyes, wicked-looking claws and mandibles, and a small black dot on her forehead.

I smiled and laid down my harvest. "Sorry for taking so long. Who's hungry? I have some Combee," I said with a smile.

To my surprise, Sheila sat up and said, "Ooh, I'm starving."

"Oh?" I said. "Eating bugs doesn't gross you out? Or any pokemon you saw killed for that matter?"

"Oh shut up. I admit I was being a little oversensitive when I criticized you. Plus, I'm getting sick of these protein bars," she admitted.

We both laughed and I said, "Alright, before we cook these, I need your help. More specifically, your pokemon's help. I need Shade to help Gilles put these Beedrill to sleep so they aren't suffering from boredom for the rest of the way back, though after they tried to kill us, I don't think I would mind so much in making them suffer a little bit."

Sheila smiled and agreed, overlooking my vengeful sentence. Twenty minutes later, I had registered my Beedrill as 'For Storage' and we were cooking the Combee. Afterwards, we talked and laughed for the rest of the night, trying to put our near-death experience out of mind.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

We emerged into daylight after nearly a month of dim light and coldness. The sun felt warm and the lack of dense trees was delightful. We emerged around midday onto a paved road, bordered by trees, which ran through the forest to the left and right. We vocally rejoiced until we realized we did not know which way to go.

We eventually made an uneducated guess and went left. Eventually the road curved northward, which was in the direction of Pewter City, so we kept walking in that direction. The road took us north for several hours before we saw a bright red pokeball lit up and rotating above the trees. After another round of rejoicing, we ran to the Pokemon Center which marked the end of Viridian Forest and the beginning of Route 2, and checked in our pokemon.

It felt so nice to have a warm shower, clean sweats, and a hot meal. Sheila and I had a wonderful night, eating and talking about our pokemon. After a good night's sleep and after receiving my clothes back from the PokeCenter cleaners, Sheila and I retrieved our pokemon and continued north along Route 2.

Route 2, being about 30 miles long, takes a while to travel. There were plenty of trees which hosted plenty of pokemon to hunt for food. There were also many trainers along the route. Had we possessed weaker-looking pokemon, we might have received more challenges. However, with a nearly ten-foot tall dragon, a creepy ghost that constantly giggled, and an incredibly fast and energetic Ninjask flying around, my potential opponents were too scared to issue a challenge. I was challenged only once, and during that battle, Azrael bulldozed every opposing pokemon into the ground mercilessly.

Sheila was similarly treated after establishing her battle prowess. Her pokemon were not as formidable-looking as mine, and as a result, she was challenged a couple more times. Her pokemon quickly beat the other trainers' pokemon with little effort and word spread fast down the route not to screw with the guy and girl traveling together with a dragon and a one-armed Flaaffy.

We reached Pewter City after two days of walking and a night of camping. We checked into the Pokemon Center and made reservations for a Gym Battle in five days' time. Since Pewter City is the first Gym in the Indigo League circuit, several exceptions are made for trainers, as far as lodging accommodations are concerned. Pokemon trainers visiting Pewter City for the first time with the intent to challenge the gym leader (proved by showing the gym date reservation) are allowed a full week's stay at the Pokemon Center for the first week. After that, their weekly allotment returns to normal.

Since it is the first gym in the circuit, the Pewter City gym is challenged by the highest number of trainers, and is considered the weed-out gym. It is known that the Cerulean City gym is very close in difficulty to the Pewter City gym, and the reason is that the League needed to set a minimum bar on competency. Pewter City sets that bar and to officially become part of the Indigo League, a trainer must earn the Boulder Badge.

In one week's time, I thought to myself, I would be heading to Cerulean City as an official Indigo League contender with a shiny new Boulder Badge. Knowing Sheila, she would be walking beside me wearing one proudly as well. I could barely sleep that first night because my mind danced with visions of glory. My pokemon would rise to the challenge. I would guide their strengths and direct their talents to lift them high above the standard. I told myself that they were destined for greatness; that I was destined for greatness. We were destined for that one spot which every trainer craned their necks upwards to see; that highest rank to which every pokemon trainer aspired to, yet only one could possess. I would be the Champion and my pokemon would be my team. The first step which laid before me was crushing the first gym leader, Aoro Craul.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gible

Gilles – Haunter

Raeda – Nincada

**Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Kara – Roselia

Larry – Flaaffy

Lady – Ledian

Shade – Ralts

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note:

Well more fun this chapter. Finally made it to Pewter City! It only took our protagonist two months… Now for a technical point: Since Sheila caught a Ralts, I will take this opportunity to say that I am not using the fairy pokemon type.

And a thank you to Notmi17 for your comments. I always appreciate critiques and support. Thank you everyone for reading so far.


	7. Chapter 7: Competition

Chapter 7

While I had plenty of time before my gym battle, I also had plenty of errands to run. I needed to sell the products of my hunts, as well as pokemon, and I needed to replenish my supplies. I restocked on medicine and sold my various hunting yields the day after I arrived, and after buying supplies, I was left with a fair amount of money. I also gave my parents a call to notify them of my impending gym match.

I was able to sell the Butterfree and the two Beedrill, but I found no luck selling the Pikachu. Beedrill were useful for their venom, or even as flying pokemon, and Butterfree were similarly useful, except instead of venom, they had powder that was useful in the production of sleeping drugs.

Being third tier-evolved pokemon, bug or not, Beedrill and Butterfree were very strong and capable of fighting gym leaders, aside from having medically valuable bodily secretions. Since Pewter City saw the most pokemon trainers, there were more people around who were willing to buy a strong pokemon, which made it easy for me to sell the three bugs.

I was able to sell the Butterfree for 8,000Pb and the two Beedrill for 7,500Pb each, 'netting' 23,000Pb for all of them. Concerning Pikachu, the problem was that Pewter City is home to the rock-type gym leader. Electric pokemon are in low demand in Pewter City, and as a result, I found no buyers, so I decided I would wait until I arrived in Cerulean City before I tried to sell Pikachu. It actually made more sense to try and sell the Pikachu in Cerulean, as it is the home of the water-type gym leader. Since electric pokemon are very effective against water pokemon, a strong electric pokemon would be in high demand, and I was sure I could find a good deal there.

I placed the Pikachu in long term storage on the League PC, nicknamed PokeCryo because the pokemon held in storage experienced the flow of time differently, like those in a pokeball. The difference is that, in the PokeCryo, every month that a pokemon spent stored, they only felt about one minute of time pass. However, just like in a pokeball, even though the pokemon did not feel the passage of time the same way, their body still aged at a normal pace.

Due to that characteristic, there were laws put in place to limit the amount of time a pokemon could be kept in storage at a given time. I could only house Pikachu in long term storage for three years before I had to keep it out for several months.

The extra time I had when I was not haggling for better prices for the fruits of my hunts at 'The Trainer's Trader' I spent outside of city limits with my pokemon, and I tended to see other trainers with the same idea. Many of them, like me, were sunbathing with their pokemon on the wide expanses of grass on the outskirts of Route 2, relaxing in the sunlight.

Also like me, the other trainers had no intention of battling. They were simply enjoying being outside with their pokemon. I would occasionally see roughed-up-looking trainers making their way into the city from Route 2, but they tended not to want to battle. Some trainers had spent more time in the forest, while others had simply started later, but regardless, there was always a steady stream of trainers making their way in to Pewter City.

I was technically only a few months behind schedule, so I was not surprised to see so many trainers still coming through Viridian Forest. I was, however, surprised when a little finger tapped me on the shoulder while I was sitting in the grass next to Sheila and my pokemon. It was the first day after I arrived, at around six in the afternoon. I looked around to see the kid who had challenged me in the activity center back in Viridian City.

"Well look who made it through the forest. I see that monster of yours has grown a bit. I suppose you're here to challenge Aoro, then?" I heard him say, sensing a snide tone in his voice. I nodded in response.

"Well maybe you can watch my match in a few days to see how pokemon fighting is really done," he taunted.

"I don't think I will have a problem, thanks," I said, then looked away. I did not want to give him a reason to keep talking.

"Hah! Look at this guy! So damn cocky. I'll make a bet with you bud," he said loudly, looking at my pokemon.

I looked around and saw that two other guys stood behind him. They were all smirking. "What do you want, buddy?" I asked, sighing.

"I'll bet you that I beat Aoro faster than you beat him. I'll bet you 1,000Pb!" he said seriously.

"You know he DID beat you pretty easily last time, right?" chimed in Sheila from a few feet away.

"Yeah kid. This is a pretty stupid bet on your part," I added.

"This is none of your business, hot stuff," he retorted to Sheila, who scoffed in protest. He turned back to me and said, "And the name's Alex. So are you going to stop pussyfooting around and take the bet, then?" he asked, holding his hand out to shake. Oh what the hell. I shook his hand. He laughed and said to his friends, "Looks like it's on! See you afterwards, loser." He then ran off towards town.

"What an arrogant ass. He makes you look humble," said Sheila, angrily.

"Hey now, I've had about enough criticism and badmouthing for the day. Give me a break," I said, sighing. I lay down in the grass, noting that the bet implied that Alex and I would both win.

"Well you know it's your fault, right? You picked a fight with him in Viridian and now he won't let it go," she went on anyway.

I chose to pretend not to hear her, and she gave a harrumph and ignored me back. I then snuggled up next to Azrael and took a nap before we needed to head back into town for the night.

Throughout the next couple of days, I watched LeagueWatch and studied Aoro's fighting style. It was nothing new to me, for I had watched that TV program since I was little. He always switched between three different starting teams, depending on the average level of the pokemon teams he was fighting. He then used one of two pokemon that reflected common pokemons' weaknesses.

The three starting teams he used consisted of pure rock-type pokemon: two separate battles with a Graveler and an Onix; three separate battles with a Geodude, a Graveler, and an Onix; and two separate battles with a Geodude and a Graveler, and an Onix. As much as this was the milestone for getting into the League, Aoro also liked to challenge the more adept and/or cocky trainers to keep things interesting. The last pokemon was either an Aron or a Larvitar. The fundamental and simple lesson being taught was this: with variety comes strength.

The rules were simple as well; you can only switch pokemon out twice, unless your pokemon is knocked out, killed, or intended to be withdrawn for the remainder of the fight, and you can only use one potion. Also, at any point in the battle, Aoro can demand that you change your pokemon if you have more than one. If that happens, you have to keep the new pokemon out on the field for at least thirty seconds, but he rarely abused that privilege. Finally, directly attacking the pokemon trainer/gym leader or the crowd is against the rules.

On the third day, I paid 20Pb along with five hundred other spectators to watch the battles for the afternoon. The arena was a large arena, about the size of a football field, with terrain that matched a rock pokemon's environment. There were large boulders, hills, and a small pond of water.

When Alex's turn came, I paid special attention. Aoro met with Alex and shook his hand before the battle started, and then they each walked back to their respective sides of the arena. Many screens surrounding the arena showed the amount of pokemon each person had in their possession without mentioning what they were or what level. Aoro had four pokeballs showing and Alex had three. Hmm he's fighting one short, I thought to myself.

Aoro released a Geodude and Alex released his Marill. The Marill was much faster than the slow moving rock pokemon, and after about twenty seconds, it had sprayed the Geodude into to submission. The Geodude was then replaced with a Graveler, who shared a similar fate after about a minute.

"Good use of water moves. Now change your pokemon!" yelled Aoro.

"Alright, go Apollo!" shouted Alex as he returned his Marill and sent out his Skarmory. The metal bird stretched a little before taking off around the arena, and Aoro released a twenty-foot long Onix which burrowed immediately. The Skarmory, however, reached the Onix as it was halfway underground and gouged a deep wound into the Onix's rocky skin with its sharp metal feathers.

The Skarmory then proceeded to run around the arena, proving to be too fast a target for the Onix to hit. Eventually, the Skarmory won when the Onix emerged behind it, and it doubled back to tear up the Onix's face with its metal feathers.

"Alright, the Leader's FINAL pokemon!" yelled the announcer. The gym leader released an Aron and Alex returned his Skarmory, replacing it with a Machoke. Aoro's steel-plated, four-legged dinosaur let out a small roar and charged the human-like and human-sized, muscular fighting pokemon. The Machoke held a horribly effective type difference over the Aron and easily beat it into submission by kicking it over and over while dodging its slow attacks. The final timer on the battle stopped at 7:15.

Alex smiled and received his badge, earning a handshake from the gym leader. I left after that. Since it was the third day after my arrival, and my pokemon and I had taken a break from our drills for the first two days, I decided it was time to get back to it.

I found Sheila lounging outside of Route 2 in her newly adopted "usual spot," and I asked her if she wanted to join in. She said she would rather watch, though I did get her to have Kara spray me and my pokemon with spores, and I started our training without her.

That day set the standard for the rest of the week. We trained about four times per day for about two hours each, focusing on toughness for two of the sessions, attack power for the third, and speed for the fourth. The schedule was toughness-attack-speed-toughness.

During toughness drills, I would have Azrael send toned-down waves of dirt at Gilles and Raeda, and they would have to fight through them. Azrael also had to do that under the influence of spores and with Raeda using her leech life ability on him. It was a team effort, and I even tried to wrestle with Azrael, but he was much stronger than I. However, I was happy to know that I could use his weight against him and trip him, despite his size and strength. He would not stay down for long, but I could at least claim some sort of superiority over him other than speed.

As our day for battle approached, Sheila finally started preparing for her fight by drilling with her pokemon. It was nice to have a drilling partner. I even started teaching her some fighting moves. I specifically practiced basic punches and dodges with her, since I felt awkward trying to teach her wrestling moves. She did not take it seriously at first, but eventually she gave in.

On the final day before my battle, I gave my parents a call to remind them of my gym challenge. I then took my pokemon out for a cool down practice session. It was an easy practice with a focus on strategy and a few light sprints. Then, at the end of the day, I addressed my team.

"Alright, guys. Raeda, I'm sorry but you are sitting this one out. The pokemon we're fighting here have extreme type advantage over you." Raeda buzzed angrily and flew in front of my face, giving me the Ninjask equivalent of Growlithe eyes. "Really, Raeda, I'm sorry. I don't want you getting hurt. I know you're fast but that might not be enough. Don't worry, you will get plenty of chances to fight later on." Raeda seemed to do another bug equivalent of a pout, but I ignored it.

"Azrael and Gilles. You've been toughening up for the past month so you should be able to withstand a few hits, though I'm sure YOU won't have a problem with that, Azrael." The dragon beamed happily. "Gilles, I will be relying on your ability to avoid being hit. They won't be able to hit you while you are intangible, and you will be able to use your shadow ball and energy ball from a distance." Gilles laughed maniacally and nodded his head in agreement.

"Azrael, your earth skills will be invaluable here. We are going to give those pokemon something to fear with your bulldozing ability. They won't stand a chance." Azrael growled and stomped his foot with enthusiasm, creating a two-foot-long fissure that ended with a tiny vertical rock spike. "Tomorrow's a big day everybody. All of our training will be put to the test. Let's crush them!" I yelled, bringing my open hand into a fist in front of my face. Azrael let out a low screech that sounded deeper than normal, Gilles let out a terrifying shriek of joy, and Raeda let out a loud, grating insectoid screech. It was a spectacle that left the nearby trainers and their pokemon startled and spooked.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The noise from the crowd sounded like a rockslide from where I stood in the waiting room, with five other trainers sitting nearby nervously. My battle was approaching. Only two more trainers were ahead of me. I, for the most part, was not nervous, but the suspense of waiting was unbearable. Sheila waited beside me for her turn as well, though her battle was right after mine.

Azrael and Gilles waited patiently beside me. At first, they had received a few amazed glances from the other waiting trainers, but the trainers had soon fallen victim to their nerves and had retreated into themselves. Other pokemon occupied the room next to their trainers as well. There were many bugs and grass pokemon, which was expected from trainers coming from Viridian Forest.

Soon I heard a booming rise in volume from the crowd as the announcer called out the defeat of the challenger. "Leader Craul is the victor!" One more trainer in front of me. The next-in-line trainer was sitting on a bench amidst his pokemon, staring at the floor and drenched in sweat. He had a Stantler, a Spinarak, and a Gloom, which were quietly huddled around him.

That's a trainer destined to lose, I thought. I frowned and mentally reviewed my own strategy. Sheila noticed him as well, but walked over and tried to give the trainer a pep talk. He ignored her for the most part, which caused her to sigh and return to her chair unsuccessful. I frowned again, this time at Sheila. As far as I was concerned, she did not need to sacrifice her state of mind to help a weak trainer. After a few minutes, the crowd roared and the loudspeaker called out, "Another trainer falls to Craul!" The anxious trainer stood up and wobbled out, recalling his pokemon. I'm next.

That was the longest wait of all, despite its short duration, and my restless pokemon could feel my excitement. "Ok, you two. This is it. Get ready," I said to them. They tensed and took on an aggressive, ready stance before I recalled them. I then did a couple jumps in place to shake out the tension in my limbs.

As I expected, the trainer lost, less than three minutes into the fight. The gym trainer called for the next challenger and I walked through the rock archway into the arena. The first thing I noticed was the layout of the arena itself. Piles of upturned dirt and rocks were scattered around the field. The crowd also sounded much, much louder down on the arena grounds than in the waiting room or in the stands.

I walked forward and located my opponent. Aoro Craul stood tall, towering above me at almost seven feet tall. He was dense, muscled, and burly. He wore a pair of dark jeans with a solid black short-sleeved shirt. He wore a pair of black boots and a leather belt. Lastly, he had short black hair, brown eyes, and a close-trimmed beard on his square jaw. He was very intimidating.

I walked up to him, ignoring the roar of the crowd, and I shook his hand, feeling my bones strain under his grip. "Welcome, challenger, to the Pewter City gym," he said in a deep voice. He then held out a small device and said, "Please link your PokeDex with your chosen fighters." I did so and he rattled off, "Alright. Only two pokemon switches and one potion allowed in this battle. Hmm… I see you have two… And fairly strong ones at that. Ok. No targeting the crowd or me and I reserve the right to have you switch your pokemon. That's all. Now take your position at the other side."

I followed his orders silently and made my way through the field, noting different segments of the terrain. Next to my designated standing area was a small speaker that corresponded to a microphone on Aoro's ear. It rang out, "Call your first pokemon!" I saw Aoro release two balls at the same time as I released Azrael. I looked at him, nodded, and then stomped as the noise of the stadium ceased to register in my mind.

Azrael mirrored his confirmation and burrowed. The Graveler and the Geodude now making their way over noticed the maneuver and each took different approaches. The Graveler started rolling and the Geodude climbed a rock and waited. The Graveler was moving very fast so I decided to have Azrael attack the Geodude first. It would make the battle easier to take one pokemon out of the fight quickly.

I stomped and slid my foot sideways towards the Geodude, instead of pointing my toes forward. About five seconds later, the ground erupted beneath the rock upon which Geodude was perched. The little rock with arms looked unafraid, but that changed quickly. Azrael used his bulldoze ability upon reaching the surface, using his momentum to send the dirt around him surging forward at a faster-than-usual velocity.

The Geodude was hit and knocked out by the wall of dirt that reached well above the five foot rock's height, and was carried into another rock. He was immediately recalled as Azrael turned to meet the rolling Graveler.

"Good job, Azrael! Keep it up!" I yelled. "Get out of its way!"

Azrael dove to the side but the Graveler was too large and fast. The five-foot, spherical and jagged rock pokemon slammed into Azrael's side, tearing some scales off. "Submerge!" I yelled.

Azrael complied and burrowed as the Graveler returned for another hit. I repeated the same maneuver with my stomp and Azrael erupted behind the rolling Graveler. Azrael's attack was too slow and his bulldoze only hit air. "Try again, Azrael!" I yelled. He submerged again. We repeated the attack twice more but the Graveler was too fast. Aoro kept up a steady string of commands, which he chose to muffle over the speaker.

Aoro then yelled audibly, "Magnitude!" and the Graveler jumped from his roll and landed with a sharp whumph, pounding all four of his fists into the ground. I felt the earth shake underneath me and Azrael emerged a couple seconds later. He was heaving and stumbling above ground as the Graveler resumed its rolling towards him.

I recalled Azrael and released Gilles. "Gilles, shadow form and then energy ball," I ordered. He complied, becoming ethereal and rising above the rolling pokemon. He started gathering energy from the plants around him, killing a small bush, and released the transparent green orb. The energy ball hit the Graveler with precision and sent it crashing out of its roll. It then stopped and threw a few rocks at the formless shadow.

The rocks tore at the shadow somehow, forcing Gilles to shriek. "Start moving, Gilles! Dodge his attacks!" Gilles started weaving around and flying through different parts of the terrain. "Now energy ball again!" I yelled.

As he moved, I could see plants withering and he fired another concentrated burst of plant-life energy at the Graveler. It hit the Graveler square in the forehead and crumbled part of the jagged edifice which adorned it. The Graveler rolled back weakly and I yelled, "Finish him off!"

Gilles raced forward, taking advantage of the lull in Graveler's attacks. Aoro shouted at the Graveler to start rolling, which it started to obey. However, it was too slow, and when Gilles reached it, he sent a fist of shadow crashing into the rock pokemon. The Graveler passed out and rolled to a stop before Aoro recalled him

"That is good adaptation! Now switch pokemon!" Aoro yelled.

"Alright Gilles, way to go. Rest for a bit," I said before I recalled him. I loosed Azrael and said, "Azrael, Onix is big and will burrow. We need to get him to stay above ground so you can use your bulldozing effectively." Azrael stomped and submerged while Aoro released his giant Onix.

The Onix burrowed immediately. Not much happened above ground for a couple minutes after that. Every now and then one would emerge, but then immediately return underground. Eventually, I yelled out to Aoro, "How about we make this an above-ground fight?"

"Sounds like a great idea," he said quickly through the speaker. He then stomped three times while I stomped twice. Both pokemon emerged and backed up towards their respective trainers. "Rock tomb!" shouted Aoro.

"Sandstorm!" I ordered. The Onix flung several small rocks at Azrael, many of which hit while Azrael's sandstorm swirled around him. Then I ordered, "Fling some at his eyes!" before small jets of soil were released from the sandy vortex at the Onix's large face. Azrael's sandstorm soon grew to full strength, reaching out twenty feet in all directions. His position was hidden within the cyclone of dirt and sand, and, accompanied by the sand caked in the Onix's eyes, made it easy for the Onix's attacks to miss.

"Enough of that! Get in close, find him, and constrict!" Aoro ordered the giant rocky snake. The Onix opened its rocky maw and let out a roar which sounded like boulders smashing together, and surged forward toward the storm.

As soon as the Onix reached the edge of the storm I yelled, "Bulldoze!" Part of the storm added to the attack as a 12-foot high wave of earth hit the Onix full force. The force of the wall of dirt not only stopped the heavy rock behemoth, but it also tossed the goliath backwards. "Again! Don't stop until it passes out!" I yelled.

Before the Onix could regain its composure and rise up, another earthy groundswell pounded him into the rocks. Then another. After the fourth, Aoro returned his Onix and said, "Again, good job, trainer. Switch your pokemon!"

I did so after saying to Azrael, "That was spectacular! Take a small rest." Gilles appeared in front of me and I said, "Shadow form." His body became transparent and Aoro released what I was afraid of: the Larvitar.

The rock pokemon stood three feet tall, and looked like a small carnivorous dinosaur, with a spike on its forehead. Larvitar have hard scaly skin which gives them exceptional defensive capabilities, and they grow into dark-type pokemon throughout their lives. I was afraid of that because the Larvitar would probably have learned to use dark-type moves, which were especially effective against ghosts.

"Gilles, keep your distance and use energy ball. You've got thirty seconds to keep him away, and then Azrael will finish the job," I said to him, to which he nodded. Gilles turned and his face grew transparent. I did not tell him to try to hypnotize the Larvitar, for I knew that dark-type pokemon are effective at clouding or negating psychic attacks.

Gilles started moving around the arena, drawing in energy from the foliage and releasing the stored energy at the Larvitar, hitting it over and over. The attacks were getting weaker as time progressed, for the foliage in the arena was becoming sparse. "Fly above it and keep out of range until I can switch you out, Gilles," I ordered.

He obeyed and started flinging shadow balls weakly against the Larvitar. After a little while, Aoro yelled out, "Dark pulse!" The area in the Larvitar's immediate vicinity darkened to the point where I could barely see the creature, and the darkness condensed into a wave which surged towards Gilles, who was now without cover in the open air. My eyes widened and I cursed for not realizing it.

The torrent of darkness surged into Gilles, and he screeched as his body's form started to be ripped apart. "Get into cover, Gilles! Weave through the terrain!" He weakly flew away through the air, dodging another pulse of dark energy. He then started weaving through the trees, dodging even more of the Larvitar's dark barrages. He managed to stay away from further harm until the half-minute was up, and then I replaced him with Azrael.

"Alright, like we practiced. Submerge and surge! Go!" I commanded my dragon. He disappeared beneath the surface of the earth and exploded underneath the Larvitar with a wave of dirt not long after. The Larvitar was tough, though, and was able to survive the attack. It moved forward and rammed Azrael with its horn, which drew some blood on Azrael's stomach. "Bulldoze again!" I yelled.

Azrael threw the Larvitar away from him with another surge of earth, knocking him into a rock. The Larvitar rose again, though this time weakly. "Again!" I urged. With one more attack, a rocky surge of dirt slammed into the Larvitar, leaving it half-buried in the ground, and knocking it out.

That was followed by a screech from Azrael as he burst into white light. I, and everyone in the crowd, watched Azrael's form shift and his height grew. His screeching became a high-pitched roar as we heard his bones popping and his sinews stretching, and when the light died down, a thirteen-foot tall Gabite was standing in place of the Gible.

I could hardly remember a time I was so happy. I was actually happier about Azrael evolving than I was about winning the match. Azrael now towered over me with a deep red coloration running from his lower jaw to his lower stomach. His strong legs now supported a body that looked more like a dragon, as opposed to a fish with arms.

I let Azrael bask in the glory of his moment. I let him hear the crowd roaring and admiring him as I walked up to Aoro and he pinned the Boulder Badge on my lapel. "Fantastic work, trainer. That dragon of yours has a mean bulldoze. I haven't seen such a powerful ground wave in such a young pokemon since Leader Taylor's Camerupt. Keep training it up, kid. Stop by the awards desk to receive your cash prize and to register your pokemon. Welcome to the league!"

Aoro swatted me hard on the back and motioned me to the exit before placing his pokemon in the gym's medical machine. I yelled out to Azrael, "Azrael! Great job! We gotta go now!" He looked over and I returned him to his ball. I was worried about him now, despite how proud and happy I felt for him. There was no telling how his demeanor and attitude might have changed with his evolution.

I walked out of the arena and followed Aoro's instructions. My pokemon who competed were registered, I received the T.M. Rock Tomb, and I received 2,000Pb in reward money, which made up for the 1,000Pb it cost to challenge Aoro.

I then decided to wait near the victor's claims desk for Sheila. I knew she would win considering she had already beaten the rock gym leader from Hoenn. My parents gave me a call and congratulated me, sounding worried about my newly evolved starter. I assured them that everything was fine, and after I hung up the phone, I researched Gabite on my PokeDex.

It was no surprise when Sheila walked through and collected her rewards. We congratulated each other and she gave me a hug for winning my first gym battle. Then we both left the gym, feeling very good about ourselves. As soon as I stepped out of the gym doors, I ran into Alex. Crap, what was my time?

"Well look at our cocky friend. Not so cocky now, eh? I believe you owe me 1,000Pb," the insolent kid said to me. "Don't try to pretend we didn't have a bet. I have witnesses and your time was 9:05 while mine was 7:15. Pay up." There was a large group of people standing around; presumably people from the audience who wanted to see another show.

I fished out my winnings and sorted out half, leaving me no more money than I had started with before challenging Aoro. I glared at him the entire time. I handed him the money and told him to get lost.

"Haha. Not so smart now, are you? I knew you would take longer just by looking at type differences. That WAS the point of this gym battle, you know. The lesson? Maybe you shouldn't act like you're so much better than everyone, eh? Especially if you're not," he taunted. Some ooh's were heard in the small crowd.

My grip tightened. Sheila put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't. He's just trying to rile you up. Don't let him; he's not worth it." I looked at her, smiled, and then punched Alex in the nose. A collective gasp rang out amongst the crowd. Alex fell to the ground with a cry and Sheila slapped me in the arm before stomping off.

"You asshole! You'll pay for that!" He squeaked as he stood up. His friends tried to calm him down as he took out a pokeball.

"Hey, what's going on out here!" came a yell from inside. A gym trainer was approaching and I walked away through the crowd before he reached the building's exit.

Alex snarled and yelled as I walked away, "This isn't finished! You're not getting away with that!" I ignored him as I walked away toward Sheila. The people and Alex scattered as the gym trainer emerged from the building.

"I hope you feel better about yourself, you idiot. Remember what happened last time you were a jerk to him? His petty anger followed you here. This is only going to make things worse and you will only have yourself to blame," Sheila chastised.

"Can we talk about this later? I just want to enjoy the rest of my day. I got my first gym badge and I gave that little twit some of what's coming to him. I'll deal with the consequences later," I said back.

"Don't expect to avoid this with me. I'm not going to forget. I'm letting loose on you tomorrow; count on it," Sheila said with a huff.

I walked with her to the Pokemon Center, with a smile on my face. I did feel better after that. Hopefully, but improbably, Alex would leave me alone and would learn a lesson about being a little shithead. Right now, though, I felt good and I wanted a hamburger before bringing my pokemon out to Route 2 for praise and celebration.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

My breath was steady, which defied how nervous I really felt. Azrael's Greatball was gripped tightly in my palm. Sheila understood my tentativeness with letting Azrael out, and chose to stand a fair distance away. Pokemon have been known to change when they evolve, in more ways than physical. Dragons in particular become more fierce, determined, and aggressive.

Despite her trepidation, Sheila came to support me in my first interaction with Azrael since his evolution. We walked out along Route 2 until I found a Pidgey, which I shot down with an arrow. Gilles and Raeda accompanied me while Kara and Shade followed Sheila. After Gilles retrieved the dead bird for me, I released Azrael fifteen feet away.

Azrael shook his head and looked around, no doubt testing his newly heightened senses. "Azrael, catch!" I yelled and tossed the Pidgey at him. Much quicker than I was used to, his head jabbed forward and snatched the bird from the air. "You look amazing! How do you feel, bud?"

Azrael's eyes locked with mine and he let out a roar, scattering birds in trees hundreds of feet away. Instead of flinching, I marveled at the change in his vocal prowess. His new roaring was vastly more intimidating than the screeching of his base form.

Azrael then dipped low, putting his claw-tipped, finned arms along the ground and lowering his head to around my head's level. He then approached me, almost looking like a Persian stalking its prey as he slunk towards me. In that moment, something changed in my perception.

I noticed the rippling movement of his new muscles as he supported his weight. I noticed the flowing movement of his older, larger muscles which had expanded during his evolution. I saw the steady rising and falling of the breath in his chest. I peered into the deep yellow and black pools of Azrael's eyes and ceased to feel fear.

Despite his movement towards me, which could have been mistaken for an aggressive approach, I looked upon Azrael with pride and admiration. I had helped Azrael get to this point. Perhaps it was the lack of fear I felt that kept Azrael from turning on me. Perhaps it was the strength I showed him; the strength of will to not back down, look away, or cringe at the sight of a predator as powerful as he, moving towards me as a predator moves to its prey.

Nothing had changed for me. My pride in Azrael had risen but we were still a team and more; we were still a family. We would still take on the world together. Nothing would stop us.

Azrael stopped a few inches from my face and looked me in the eyes. He exhaled sharply from his nostrils, blowing my hair back and giving me a whiff of decaying meat. I reached up and ran my hand down his scaly, taught neck, feeling the new bands of muscle that had appeared.

As I slid my hand down the side of his neck, Azrael's eyes closed and his breath evened. I eventually dropped my hand and his head rose to full height. I turned around and looked at Sheila, a large smile stretching across my face and a look of determination in my eyes. Sheila wore a look of terror and worry.

Azrael made a deep growl, and Sheila's head suddenly cocked to the side. She looked at Shade and then to me, and said, "Shade told me that Azrael says thank you."

I looked up at Azrael, gleaming, and said, "So who's up for a hunt?" A loud roar and a scared Sheila later, we were bounding into the clusters of trees on Route 2.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

On the day after my gym battle, I started preparing for the next segment of my journey: Mt. Moon.I had read about Mt. Moon and I knew that no direct road was ever cut through the mountain range. Like Viridian Forest, Mt. Moon is a quintessential challenge that every trainer must conquer. There are, however, guides whose services could be purchased. Most trainers take that route nowadays, for it is very easy to get lost in the dark maze of caverns and tunnels that run through Mt. Moon.

While there is no road, lighted checkpoints aided many a trainer who decides to traverse Mt. Moon without a guide. Beyond those checkpoints, the only other forms of assurance to trainers that progress is being made are the many mountain passes to which the tunnels lead.

Some trainers opt out of traveling through the mountain, and instead decide to climb the mountain itself, which is a different type of challenge. Mountain climbing holds a host of different obstacles which normal trainers do not need to deal with. They encounter different species of pokemon while traversing the rugged peaks and often-snowy slopes of the mountain. Trainers are able to switch to different paths during their journey across the mountain if they desire, but they must wait until they reach certain areas of the mountain, such as forested valleys.

Mountain forests pervade Mt. Moon's exterior, which give trainers, mountain climbers and spelunkers alike a much-needed respite. However, those forests are home to many different types of pokemon not found near cities, and hold different dangers. Trainers passing through the mountain would find tunnels leading into these valleys, and trainers traveling over the mountain would naturally be drawn to the valleys where fresh-water rivers and wildlife are abundant.

Sheila and I decided to go through the mountain instead of over it, and after little thought and discussion, we decided not to take a guide. In preparation, we decided that, since it would be so dark in the caves, we would need to teach at least one of our pokemon the ability to create a steady source of light.

That led us to a BioTech store in which we found the T.M. Flash. Of Sheila's and my pokemon, all of hers and Raeda were the only ones who could use it. The price of Flash was fairly cheap, as it was almost essential for pokemon trainers passing through Mt. Moon, and we split the cost, making it very cheap. We both also paid for a few more nights at the Pokemon Center and used the time to train our pokemon to use Flash.

Sheila taught the move to all of her pokemon, while I only taught it to Raeda, and after those few days, our pokemon could shine a dull light consistently for several hours at a time with little rest between. It would have to do, so we decided to begin the next step of our journey.

We made our way towards the eastern edge of Pewter City where the trainer road began, and found an interesting sight. There was a large crowd of trainers standing around near the trainer information booth set up at the edge of Route 3. I walked up to a random trainer to ascertain the problem and found a simply-dressed trainer with jeans and a t-shirt.

"Excuse me, what is going on here?" I asked.

The trainer turned and looked at me, and he said, "There's trouble with the guide Zu-" Suddenly a look of awe appeared on his face. "You're the trainer whose dragon evolved, aren't you? I remember you from Aoro's battle!"

"Y-yeah, I am. It's not that big of a deal though," I said with embarrassment. "So what's going on?"

"I thought it was amazing!" he said, ignoring my questions at first. "I wouldn't want to fight you. But anyway, there's a problem with the guides. Someone let loose all of the guides' Zubats and stole their pokeballs. All of these people want to buy a guide through Mt. Moon but can't," he informed me.

"Well, sucks for them. Maybe they should try to get through the mountain without a guide then," I said apathetically, while turning to leave.

"Well some of us don't have a pokemon to teach Flash to, unfortunately. Or we just don't have anyone to travel with. And we can't just stay here because the PokeCenter is expensive," he said, downcast.

"Why don't you come with us?" came the high-pitched and insufferably nice voice I had come to recognize as Sheila's. "We would love the extra company."

"You really mean it? I can come with you guys? I don't have a whole lot of money; I spent it on supplies and medicine. So I can't pay you a whole lot," sputtered the kid.

"Oh don't worry about that. Pay us with your company. We would enjoy having you with us, right?" she said, looking at me.

"Sure. What's your name?" I asked, shaking my head and mentally sighing.

"I'm Chris, nice to meet you both," he said happily. Sheila and I introduced ourselves and the three of us headed out onto Route 3. When we were well past city limits, I released my pokemon and my two companions followed suit. Every time I saw Chris looking at Azrael, it was with fear, admiration, and awe. Every time Azrael noticed him staring, his lip curled and smoke began to seep out of the crack in his mouth, forcing Chris to look away lest he provoke the dragon. Chris at least had the good sense not to look Azrael in the eyes, which would have resulted in a rather unhealthy confrontation. Chris's own pokemon – a Psyduck, an Ariados, and a Zoroark – with the exception of the Zoroark, were terrified of Azrael.

Route 3 was a long path through the progressively tortuous foothills of Mt. Moon. The hills were inhabited by coniferous forests and hardier pokemon than the route outside of Viridian Forest. We often fought and ate Hoothoot, Noctowl, Bidoof, Aipom, and Sentret, and we became fond of the nightly howling of Poochyena packs. By day we traveled and trained, and at night we huddled up with heavier jackets around hearty campfires.

Chris became aware of my daily drills and quickly joined in with his own pokemon. He seemed eager to improve in any way, and followed my example. While our days were spent training, hunting, and chatting as a group, I always walked near to Azrael while traveling, preferring his warm aura over that of my companions.

I considered my companions to be that of circumstance. Sheila was traveling with me because we could help each other become better until she returned to Hoenn. Chris was traveling with me because Sheila invited him. To top it off, I had been with my pokemon longer than with my two relatively new companions. While I was not averse to improving my relationship with Chris and Sheila, I was more comfortable around my team.

It took us four days to reach Mt. Moon at our pace. Chris commented at one point, "You guys move really slowly. If you didn't drill so much, we would reach Mt. Moon in half the time."

"Drilling keeps us in shape, keeps us disciplined, and keeps our senses sharp. I won't sacrifice that to arrive a couple days early," I responded. He did not pursue the conversation any further but he never seemed to calm his sense of hurriedness.

Before we entered the cave, outside of which stood a Ranger's lodge and sign marking the cave's entrance, I called my parents and notified them that I would probably be off the grid for a while. They were not happy but agreed it was inevitable. After the call, I looked to Raeda.

"Alright, Raeda, time to put those lighting skills to use, huh?" I said to my flying bug as I patted her on the head. She buzzed happily and her wings began to glow as they fluttered, and Larry's tail lit up like a beacon behind her. As our little group entered the cavern and left the sunlight behind, the dark and rocky atmosphere embraced us, and I felt oddly comfortable. The darkness was just another obstacle we had to pass.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The main problem for me with traveling inside a mountain is the lack of time perception. I owned a watch, but simply checking the time offered no help in giving me perspective. At all hours of the day, we were bathed in darkness, our only light source being our pokemons' lights and flashlights.

Among the many challenges we had to overcome, we had to climb, descend, swim, and jump over rocky and watery underground terrain. We were constantly being plagued by hordes of Zubat, which would often attack in groups of ten or twelve. Luckily, there were plenty of us to hold them at bay. Even when the swarms' numbers would reach into the twenties, we all worked together to fend them off and avoid their acidic bites. Our pokemon would attack them, and I would use my knife to defend myself, for they were much too fast for me to use my bow.

We also had to watch our step because many pokemon naturally blended in with the rocky terrain. We had to deal with Diglett, Geodude, and Sandshrew, and the constant threat of attack kept us on our feet.

Throughout our tense journey, Sheila kept us positive with her consistently cheerful nature. Chris was talkative and only encouraged her to talk and spread her positivity. I learned from his unending chatter that he was from Saffron City, and that there were many different things to do in the city.

Chris also talked about his family tradition of pokemon training. His father had earned five badges and his mother had earned six, and they had met and fallen in love while training in the circuit.

Chris's starter, Zoroark, was caught as a Zorua. When Chris was 14 years old, he had followed what appeared to be a young boy into the woods east of Saffron and had been attacked. Before the Zorua could kill Chris, his father came to his rescue and caught the illusionist pokemon. Chris then made friends with the Zorua, and a couple years later, he graduated and started the circuit by taking a flight to Viridian City.

Besides his unending chatter, the other things that remained consistent inside the mountains were the wide tunnels, the darkness, and the pokemon attacks. We occasionally ran into more aggressive species of pokemon such as Golbat, man-sized bats with mouths that could swallow young people whole; Dugtrio, which were trios of Diglett biologically attached together; and Graveler. Those posed difficult challenges, but we were able to defeat them and continue on.

On two occasions we came to a dead end, and Azrael was able to detect the path continuing on the other side of the wall, indicating a cave-in. Though we had no way of knowing whether or not the path we chose was correct, we made choices and stuck with them. We spent almost a week traversing the tunnels before we came to the first checkpoint. It was a flat area with wooden benches and electric lighting, powered by a generator.

Imagine our surprise when we found Alex relaxing on one of the benches with his Machoke standing guard. We walked into the checkpoint with Azrael ready to fight the Machoke if it became confrontational, but Alex did not give it a chance before he returned it to its pokeball. He was accompanied by the two boys with whom he had confronted me at the Pewter City gym.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. It seems someone's lost. You see, we are here right now, so you all can just shove off," Alex said.

"Oh really? I was under the impression that these checkpoints belonged to no one and were available to everyone," I retorted.

"You probably heard wrong. We are here and we're not sharing," he said.

"We are coming in whether you want us to or not. Try to stop us. There won't be a gym trainer to help you this time," I threatened. Azrael's upper lip curled and his growling reverberated off the walls. Alex reached for a pokeball on his belt and found it missing. His face grew shocked when his hand hit empty space, not realizing that the ball was hanging behind his head in midair.

When Alex started panicking, the ball hit him in the back of the head and flew in circles around him before it embedded itself in the ceiling. Gilles appeared beside me shortly after, laughing. "I'm going to make this really simple for you, Alex. I'm coming in with my friends. If you have anything to say about it, I'll have Azrael bury you into the ceiling with your pokeball. If you want to lose again in a pokemon battle, we can do it outside of these caverns. I'm not in the mood."

"You bet your sorry ass I'm going to challenge you again!" Alex said, climbing up the side of the wall to reach his ball. We walked into the room, pushing past his two companions. Alex eventually released his Natu, who flew up and dislodged the ball from the ceiling. He then settled on the other side of the cavern checkpoint with his friends, talking in a low voice.

"Maybe we should go soon… I don't like the way they are talking and looking over at us," said Sheila warily.

"Good idea. There's not much here anyway," I replied. We left after spending less than half an hour at the checkpoint. At least we knew we were on the correct path now.

We spent another four days traversing the tunnels, during which we could always see a low light behind us in the distant tunnels, which was probably created by the light of Alex's party. We never ran into them again, but I always had the feeling that they were close.

On the third day, we emerged into a sunlit clearing leading into a valley that wound between many slopes of the mountain. It was nice to finally be able to breathe fresh air, and we relished the opportunity to see where we were going without needing a light. We decided to follow the valley, bordered by forest, until we found another entrance into the mountain.

As the sun was setting, we heard a loud holler in the distance behind us. We looked back to see Alex and his two companions running towards us. We stopped and waited for them, not putting any effort into socializing with them. When they stopped in front of us, breathing hard, Alex said, "It's time now. I'm going to show you how a real trainer battles." For the love of…, I thought, growing angry.

"Fine, you dense asshole. If the only way to shut you up is to take your money, then so be it. Azrael, tear his pokemon apart." Azrael stepped up between us and Alex released his Marill. The Marill bounced a couple times before releasing a small bullet of water at Azrael's face. As he blinked it away, he was suddenly hit on both sides.

A Hitmonlee, humanoid and lanky, ran over and kicked Azrael hard on his left side, leaving a trail of ice in its foot's wake. While that happened, a Luxio head-butted Azrael in his right side. Azrael roared immediately and I shouted, "You cheating, cheap piece of shit!"

I did not notice Sheila or Chris shouting similar reprimands, for Azrael grew furious and roared. The Hitmonlee was suddenly thrown from where it stood next to Azrael and the Luxio was body slammed by a large armored Ledian. Though Azrael he had been hurt by the ice attack, his rage boiled over and he shook off the pain. "Bulldoze!" I yelled, almost as angry as he.

A wave of dirt rose almost twenty feet high and surged towards the Marill. It was too large to dodge and the Marill was hit hard. The wave did not stop. Azrael had projected the earth such that it would surge right into Alex, hitting him hard as well as his pokemon. Alex was flung onto the ground scuffing his elbows and ripping his jeans, and his Marill landed beside him, unconscious.

Two battles raged beside me but I did not pay attention to them. As soon as I saw that the other pokemon were being taken care of, my sight narrowed to Alex, who had actually tried to injure my friend. And he had tried to hurt Azrael with a cheap shot, no less. "Sandstorm, Azrael!" I yelled. Alex rose, returned his Marill, and released his Machoke with a look of fear on his face. I stomped twice when Azrael became shrouded from sight in particles of sand.

I then slid my foot forward sharply. The Machoke ran towards the storm and was lifted into the air by the emerging dragon. "Quicksand!" I yelled. The area around the prone Machoke softened and collapsed, bringing the Machoke down into the swirling sand tomb. The Machoke yelped in fright as a bulldozing wave of earth approached him, while unable to move. He was returned before the earthy flood hit him.

A Skarmory appeared next. It quickly met the same fate as it was pounded into the ground with waves of dirt. Finally, Alex released his Natu. I called Azrael back but did not return him to his ball. I released Raeda and told her, "Use your shadow ball to mess up its teleportation. Use your speed to get in fast and rip it apart."

Raeda buzzed confusedly when she saw how angry I was, but flew forward, displaying an impressive feat of speed, and sent shadowy bolt after another at the blinking bird. Raeda was able to get in fast and scratch the bird's wings multiple times, and finally the bird fell from the air and disappeared into its pokeball before it could hit the ground.

The two battles being fought around me ended soon after. During that time, I released Gilles. Azrael was snarling at Alex but I put a hand on his side. I whispered to Gilles and he disappeared into a mass of shadows. I then walked towards the walking pile of trash who tried to hurt my pokemon in cold blood.

"H-hey! You deserved that. W-what are you doing!?" he stuttered out and backed up a little.

"I may have deserved it but my pokemon did NOT," I fumed as I approached. He backed up a little more to find his retreat impeded by a shadowy force. Gilles then laughed quietly in his ear, and I saw him go white with fear.

I walked right up to him and punched him squarely in the jaw. He fell to the floor and tried to get back up. As soon as he did, I punched him again, right in the nose. When he did not immediately get back up again, I lifted him up by his collar and said in a low and even tone, "If you ever try to hurt my pokemon like that again, I. Will. Kill. You. Now pay up, you cheap shitbag."

He struggled to get his wallet out while I held him by the collar. He held out 1,250Pb and I took it from him while letting go of his lapel. He fell to the ground again, and I walked away, giving his two companions, who had just lost their battles from the look of it, a glare of warning. "The same goes for you two scumbags."

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves. You're lucky we don't report you," Sheila said after collecting money from the trainer she had just beaten.

"If you ever want to battle honorably, I would be happy to take your money again," I called back as I walked away with my companions. We all walked on in silence, Raeda perched on my back, Gilles flying above me giggling, and Azrael stomping beside me, obviously still pissed off. When we started to see starts, we stopped for the night and made a fire.

At that point, we finally discussed what happened. Chris chimed in first, saying, "Rey, my Psyduck, used his psychic moves to beat that Hitmonlee. He didn't do so well against the Murkrow, though, but my Zoroark Pierce was able to take care of the rest. I can't believe they would try to harm your pokemon like that. What did you do to piss him off?"

"He punched Alex in the face when he taunted him about losing a bet," piped in Sheila. "But it all started when he let his pokemon mess with Alex's at a PokeCenter in Viridian, and then acted like he didn't care about it. I agree, though. Even if he didn't start it, I didn't expect him to sink to that low."

"You aren't going to chastise me about my conduct this time?" I asked Sheila, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know how I would react if someone legitimately tried to hurt my pokemon out of spite, so I won't. Speaking of punching him in the face, I haven't forgotten. You shouldn't have done it in the first place. This probably would not have happened if you had just walked away. Pleasure in the short term rarely beats the long term reward. You need to learn to appreciate that," said Sheila.

I sighed. I knew she had a point. I had put Azrael's health, even life, in danger because I gave into my short term craving to teach him a lesson. "You're right. I see that now." Not only was I not in the mood to argue, I had gradually been learning that my actions have consequences.

"I hope so. I don't want to put my pokemon through this again," she said.

"Well, I think I would have handled the situation similarly," said Chris. "But I don't think it was worth it this time. Hopefully this scared him enough to make him drop it."

"Hopefully…" Sheila and I said together.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The next night was the second night we spent in the valley, and it will forever ring in my head and haunt my dreams. We had camped outside of the entrance of the cavern, choosing to spend the night outside on the grass instead of inside the dark and rough mountain tunnel. It was a warm night with a bountiful harvest from our hunts, which did not seem to bode evil.

That changed when we were all awoken in the middle of the night by Raeda, who flew in and let loose a loud but muffled screech inside each of our tents. We clambered out of our respective shelters to hear a cacophony of barking and howling in the night. Azrael was standing at the edge of the camp, looking out to the north and Gilles was hovering beside him, looking in the same direction.

Kara's and Chris's pokemon were lined up and looking out as well. The howling was spread out and grew closer. I grabbed my bow and about ten cartridges, and waited beside Azrael. The howling was deep and loud, making me worry that I was listening to a large group of Mightyena, the evolved form of Poochyena.

After a few minutes of listening to the howling growing closer, the howling on the northeastern side turned to loud barking and growling, which meant that the pack was close. "Everyone, prepare to defend yourselves," I called out.

The growling and barking carried with it occasional yelps and whimpers until the area of noise nearby fell completely silent. At the same time, the howling in the northwest continued to grow louder. "Something is driving the packs south," I said, extending a couple arrows.

The new chorus of howling grew loud enough that we could hear other noises as well. Sounds of canines grunting and growling could be heard. Suddenly, several hundred feet in front of us, we saw small bursts of light. The howling turned to snarling and yelping. The lights flickered and flared, sending us eerie silhouettes of dogs fighting a large figure.

"Azrael, Gilles, Raeda, let's go! Whatever it is, it is heading straight for us. Best we surprise it instead of the other way around!" I ordered and we lunged forward.

"H-HEY! What are you doing! Come back!" yelled Sheila.

"You heard me, Sheila! I'm not going to be ambushed by whatever this is! I'm going!" I yelled back as I rushed forward.

I did not know whether they followed me at first or not; I just ran ahead. "Raeda, I need some light," I said to my Ninjask. She lit a small area around her which allowed me to see the carnage when I approached. Multiple dark canine bodies littered the floor, and I could smell burnt flesh. I saw a large figure diving in and out of the group of unidentifiable dogs, telling me that it was airborne. I then heard a whimper to my left and looked down to see a smaller pup trapped underneath a fallen adult.

I quickly took out a pokeball and threw it at the sound. I saw a flash of red light as it disappeared. In that moment, when the flash of light lit up the immediate area, I saw the canine that had lain on top of it, er, rather half of it; the front end of the animal was missing. I looked over to the rest of the pack and saw one of the animals lifted off the ground by a shadowy flying creature, but it was too dark to make out any detail at that distance. I quickly grew worried and changed my plan, knowing that it could attack from the sky.

I picked up the ball, still wiggling, and sprinted back to the campsite. "Come on Azrael, Gilles, Raeda! We need to get in the cave. Whatever it is, it's airborne," I yelled out. Sheila and Chris were running towards me and I yelled the same to them. They turned and ran to the opening in the mountain side. During my sprint, the pokeball in my hands burst open, hurting my hand a bit, but I caught the pup and ran with it in my arms.

I could hear Azrael behind me, I could see Gilles and Raeda in front of me, and I was about fifty feet from the entrance of the mountain tunnel when I heard the barking and yelping stop. I received a burst of adrenaline as my fear skyrocketed, and sprinted the remaining distance, telling Azrael to submerge. My hand burned from the explosion of the pokeball, and the pup whimpered and let loose a high-pitched bark.

I ran into the opening of the cave which was about twenty-five feet tall, and slid to a stop. I shoved the pup into Chris's hands amidst his protests. "H-hey! What's this?" He asked scared and surprised.

"It's a survivor! Get ready! Gilles get ready to hypnotize whatever the hell it is. Raeda, get ready to shine light on it," I ordered.

We waited a couple seconds. Soon we heard the sound of heavy flapping and screeching. It sounded similar to a Golbat except much deeper. Suddenly, the entire opening of the cavern was filled with the flying form of a Golbat. However, it was twice as large as a normal Golbat, and that was not the only abnormal thing I instantly identified.

Apart from it being nearly ten feet tall, the muscles where its wings met its body and those around its jaw were bulging and pulsing. Its eyes were bloodshot, its irises were red, and its voice was deep and erratic.

Gilles tried to hypnotize it, but his attempt failed and Raeda buzzed around, trying to stay away from its large maw. Attacks flew from behind me, hitting the Golbat and causing it to cry out. Its screech reverberated around the tunnel and all of a sudden, I was surrounded by Bidoof, and my head was on fire.

My first instinct was to start attacking each of them, but they warped and twisted into Sentret. I instantly realized that the Golbat was hitting me with a ray of confusion, but my head would not stop hurting. The problem was that it was erratic; instead of being focused on a consistent mental attack, the mental assault kept changing. But in the meantime, the Golbat had flown down into the cavern, closer to me and my pokemon. I quickly stomped and slid my foot widely forward.

An eruption of earth hit the warped bat and sent it crashing into the ceiling. "Good, Azrael. Now Flamethrower!" I ordered. He released a torrent of fire at the Golbat, causing it to screech some more. "Gilles, try to shadow ball it. Stay away from its mouth!"

The Golbat then locked on to my voice and sent a supersonic wave at me. My ears exploded in a high-pitched ringing, which accompanied my aching head. I collapsed under the pain, holding my head in my hands. I suffered for a couple seconds but it felt like minutes before my hearing returned, and I looked up to see Raeda latched on to the Golbat's forehead. She was digging furiously into its skull, tearing flesh away and preventing it from maintaining its supersonic wave at me.

I struggled to get up, noticing my hands were covered in blood where they had grasped my ears. The Golbat tried to shake Raeda off while non-physical attacks reigned down upon it. Magical leaves flew from behind me, bouts of fire licked at the Golbat's feet, shadow balls and lighting struck underneath the Golbat, and Zoroark was attempting to warp its reality with little luck.

It looked like we had the Golbat under control before it suddenly roared and repeatedly smashed its forehead fitfully against the wall of the cavern, causing Raeda's screeching to become pained and for her to fall off its head, stunned. In the half-second she spent falling to the ground, the Golbat lunged. I saw it happen in slowed time, and I shrieked, "RAEDA!"

I watched Raeda helplessly disappear into the Golbat's maw. Even as I clawed for her pokeball on my lanyard, I heard her terrified screeching grow muffled. I also heard the sickening crunch as the Golbat closed its jaws. The sound of my third pokemon shrieking in pain as it was eaten haunts my dreams to this day.

I pressed the button to return Raeda on her pokeball and nothing happened. I looked hopelessly at my adversary through watery, clouded vision while Azrael roared furiously and Gilles shrieked. "BULLDOZE!" I cried. The Golbat was thrust into the cave wall. I notched an arrow and sunk it deep into the Golbat's mouth. It shrieked and turned towards me, just to get hit with another wave of earth. Another arrow embedded itself in the Golbat's mouth.

That process repeated three more times before the Golbat slid down the hill of dirt Azrael had created, jerking spastically. I loosed more arrows into it, and kept shooting after it stopped moving. I could hardly see my target anymore through the haze of tears. I kept shouting for Raeda and for the Golbat to release her, and ran out of arrows to be left standing there with my head hanging, tears dripping from my face.

Behind me Sheila was crying and Chris was hanging his head. Gilles had retreated into shadow and was quiet. Azrael was making a rumbling groan that indicated his own mourning. Our vision left us as our pokemons' lights went out, leaving me standing in darkness above the corpse of my little bug's murderer.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gabite

Gilles – Haunter

**Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Kara – Roselia

Larry – Flaaffy

Lady – Ledian

Shade – Ralts

**Trainer: Christopher Johnson; KA592SA230**

**Pokemon in Possession:**

Pierce – Zoroark

Rey – Psyduck

Jade – Ariados

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note:

Not going to lie, this last part was hard to write. I had this written in from the beginning as plot points but after writing about Raeda and giving her a lovable personality, I developed an attachment to her that made me feel like shit when I had to ring the bell of fate. Well, now the protagonist has to overcome sadness, one of the inevitable feelings a trainer will encounter. Also, now I have to go cry in a corner and drink myself to sleep. See you all next time.


	8. Chapter 8: Moving on Through the Storm

Chapter 8

I stood over the lifeless corpse of the gargantuan bat, but my mind had abandoned the situation and taken refuge elsewhere. Rather, my consciousness was disconnected with the physical reality. Time passed and my mind raced within the confines of its solitude. Raeda can't be dead. It's too soon. She didn't deserve to go so soon. I only had her for two months! My little bug… is gone. Never again would I hear her happy buzzing. Never again would she cheer me up with her positive demeanor. She's not coming back. Oh god, why won't she stop screaming…?

I do not remember moving from the cave to my tent. I do not remember falling asleep, or laying in my sleeping bag, waiting for sleep to take me. My tumultuous mind never wavered when my body transitioned from its awakened state to that of a restless sleep. My despair followed my thoughts into my subconscious, replaying Raeda's demise over and over again. As I slept, her screams intensified. Every time I relived the incident, her screams grew louder and followed into the next replay as background noise. Her shrieking eventually grew so loud that I awoke to find myself sitting in my tent, screaming.

Gilles' shadowy mass rested in a corner of the tent. Azrael was lying down outside, with his tail curled inside of the opening, and extending next to me. It was early in the morning, as evident by the low light and distant chirping.

I noticed movement outside as Sheila was no doubt roused by my outburst and had come to check on me, but Azrael would not let her come near. I heard Azrael give a low growl, and she halted her approach. "If you need anything, we will not be far. We will be right out here," she said aloud before retreating.

Need anything? I need Raeda. Reality came into focus and I broke down. I wept in my palms. I felt movement and through blurred vision, I saw Azrael's tail leave the tent and his head and neck snake through the opening, coming to a rest beside me. My dragon's eyes were downcast and his breathing was labored. To anyone else, Azrael might seem tired, but I knew that he felt the same as me.

I bent over and wrapped my arms around his neck. He stayed with me for over two hours and we both mourned our lost teammate. During that time, Gilles remained a dense cloud of shadow in the corner and he would occasionally make a low humming, sigh-like noise. Perhaps ghosts could form legitimate attachments, even if they were the malicious remains of traumatic death.

I hardly felt the hunger gnawing at my stomach over the emptiness I felt in my heart. After grieving with Azrael for those painful hours, Azrael started noticing the loud growling coming from my gut. At that point, he lifted his neck, while I continued to hold on, and carried me out of the tent. He lowered me down onto a log next to the small fire, beside which sat Sheila and Chris.

The warmth of the fire was noticeable in the cold temperatures of the late autumn morning, despite the numbness I felt. Upon my release, Sheila made a move to come closer to me, but Azrael's lip curled again, keeping her away and allowing me to have my space. "I only want to help, Azrael," Sheila responded, and sighed.

Gilles moved from my tent and came to me shortly after with a partially burned portion of Pidgey meat. He dropped it in my hands and at that moment, I felt a burning pain in my hand. I transferred the meat to my other hand and inspected my injured palm. A pattern of burns spread over my palm, which confused me. I expected cuts or bruising from the pokeball explosion; not burns.

While I observed my hand, I heard a high-pitched whine, followed by a growl below me. I looked down to see a canine pup pulling at my pant leg. I was shocked to find that it was no Poochyena; it was a Houndour. The black fire dog looked up at me with dark red, burning eyes, and it took a moment for me to make the connection between my hand and the hound. It must have burnt me when I carried it away. We stared at each other for a minute. The Houndour stood about two feet tall at the shoulders, had black fur, a red stomach and muzzle, a short tail, white bands around its four ankles, two white ridges on its back, and a skull head-plate.

Sheila noticed me looking at the pup and said, "He ran off when we first came back to the camp, but he returned not an hour later and lay down beside your tent. He slept there all night. I heard him whimpering occasionally."

I looked up at Sheila and finally made eye contact. I noticed streaks in her dirty face, underneath her eyes. I looked at her obvious signs of grief and remembered, again. My gaze fell to the ground and held its position. Soon after, Azrael's large claw came into view and lifted my chin up to look me in the eye.

Azrael's head was held with dignity. "Shade tells me that Azrael says to mourn Raeda, but to stay strong and persevere. We cannot lose sight of our dream. We will grow stronger and make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else." I nodded and ran my hand down Azrael's neck.

"Don't worry; we will not lose sight of our reason for being here. Just give me a little time, Azrael," I told him. I sighed and looked down at the Houndour pup. "Well it looks like you have nowhere else to go, little guy. Do you want to come with me?" I asked, while pulling out an empty pokeball. It sat below me, looking up with a blank expression.

I reached forward with the pokeball and touched the Houndour's skull forehead. He disappeared into the pokeball and I let it drop to the grass. The ball hardly moved at all and he was caught soon after. I picked up the ball and investigated its contents through the holopanel. It was a male, level 8 Houndour.

I released the Houndour and he walked off. He returned a short while later with a Pidgey wing and set it down a few feet from me. I watched him position himself over it and blow a short flame onto it, singeing the feathers, and then pick it up and lay it at my feet. With a small smile of appreciation, I picked up the flash-fried wing. After I finished the piece that Gilles gave me, I took a bite out of the Rufus' gift. I crunched down onto scorched flesh and gagged. "We are going to have to work on your cooking skills, little guy." The pup only sat down and panted with his tongue slightly out. "Now let's think of a name for you… I think I'll call you Rufus."

I gave a small smile which faded quickly when I made up my mind about my next move. I needed to see the Golbat and I needed to bury what I could salvage of Raeda. "I am going to stay here until I'm ready to continue. I can't say how long, but it could be for a couple days, or it could be until the first snowfall. I'm not going to rush to Cerulean. I will, however, be moving farther north. If you want to go on, I won't hold you back," I announced to Sheila and Chris.

They both nodded and Sheila said, "I'm not going to leave you, right now. It won't be a problem."

"I agree. I want to stay with you both," said Chris. I thanked them and walked over to the entrance of the cave.

The Golbat lay in mangled heaps on the ground. Its body was torn apart, and I noticed some of my arrows were broken. The torn body had slash and bite marks, which looked to be about the size of Azrael's mouth. Sheila approached cautiously and, finding no resistance from Azrael, walked up to me and gave me a hug before saying, "Your pokemon tore through the Golbat after we carried you to bed."

I looked at Azrael, who did not meet my gaze. He looked at the corpse with a curled lip. I sighed and started retrieving my arrows, finding seven of them broken. I cut my losses and salvaged what I could. I found a myriad of scratch marks, previous scars, and abnormal muscle growths all over the torn-apart bat. Some of the scars resembled scratches, and one set of scars had a pattern that resembled the number nine. I was shocked to find that I had signal on my PokeDex, so I also sent out a message to the rangers about the unusual encounter.

I then pulled out a large portion of the torso of the bat from the cave. "Gilles I'm going to need your help retrieving what we can of Raeda's body. We are going to bury her so that she can rest with as much dignity as possible. Gilles wasted no time helping me dig through the Golbat's bloated stomach. We found parts of Houndour and even Houndoom, pieces of Raeda, and pieces of what appeared to be cloth.

I carried my poor bug over to a nice patch of shaded grass and started digging with the spade attachment for my hatchet. Azrael watched me, but he did not help. He let me work out some of my frustration and anger on the ground, which I thanked him for later.

After I finished burying Raeda, I took out her pokeball and shrunk it to the size of a golf ball. I split it in half with my hatchet, placed the white half down on her grave, and pressed it into the earth. I then spent some time standing over her grave.

My new fire hound never wandered far from me throughout the entire endeavor. He sat close by when I was retrieving Raeda from the Golbat's stomach and when I was digging her grave, and Sheila stood next to me for the latter half of the time I spent standing at Raeda's grave. When I finally turned away, she met my gaze and said, "I'm sorry I couldn't have done more. Nothing could have changed what happened, so don't blame yourself. Raeda gave her life to protect you because she loved you. That thing is to blame."

"Thanks, Sheila," I simply said back. She gave me another hug and we returned to the campsite. It was noon and Chris was talking on his phone. I followed his example and called my parents to explain that there had been an incident. I informed them that I was alright, and that I was going to stay in the peaks of Mt. Moon for another large span of time, but I did not go into detail, for I would have broken down again if I had. Luckily, my parents were understanding and did not push me for details.

As we sat around the fire, I looked at my pokemon and said, "Raeda was very brave, and she gave her life to protect mine. I will make sure that doesn't happen again. We will not lose anyone else!" I looked down to Rufus and said, "It also looks like we have a new addition to our team. Rufus, welcome to our family. It's a little broken right now, but we'll find a way to get through it. Now, the first rule of this family is behavior…" I continued on with the welcome spiel. I felt like I did not need to repeat certain behavioral expectations, but all of my pokemon needed to hear it and he was no exception.

It was with a heavy heart and a desire to distract my thoughts with physical strain that I instituted our drills for the day. A long adventure through the mountain tunnels awaited and I would make sure we were prepared for anything it could throw at us, starting by drilling. I did not care how long we needed to prepare; we would train in the forested valley until we could make it through the mountain without fear. Rufus needed some work before we re-entered the tunnels because he was far behind the rest of his teammates in level. After I slept that night, I hardened my heart, bottled up my emotions, and started to forge my destiny again, without Raeda.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The mountain pass was much larger than I had initially presumed. This was a good thing, though, because it gave us room to move. I used a function on my PokeDex map to place a geographical marker on the location of the cave entrance so that we could find our way back when we wanted to continue our journey.

Upon exploration of the vicinity, we found out that the pass actually fed into many others, which allowed wild pokemon to migrate along the mountain tops with relative ease. Due to this large expanse of mountain passes, valleys, gradual slopes, and mountain lakes, we saw a diverse mix of pokemon.

Stantler herds were large and numerous, much to mine and Azrael's delight. There were a large amount of Hoothoot, Starly, Spinarak, Zigzagoon, and Ekans. Some of the more uncommon pokemon that we came across were Poochyena and Stunky. We even came across a couple rarer pokemon.

Hunting for food gave us more practice in battling, but drills played a significant role in raising our aptitude. Even though Rufus was so far behind my other pokemon at first, in terms of level and competency, he was able to quickly rise in a matter of a couple of weeks due to being able to train with competent teammates.

Our drills were brutal and frequent, which forced Rufus to toughen up quickly in order to meet the demands. He turned out to be a very well-rounded pokemon. He was quick on his feet, strong in his attacks, and tough. In general, his melee attacks were not as strong as Azrael's, and his special attacks were not as powerful as Gilles', with the exception of his fire expertise. He was also quicker than both of them.

Rufus learned the flamethrower technique from Azrael and quickly became adept with its use, displaying a greater aptitude with the technique than Azrael, and an aptitude on par with Gilles. To develop their fire skills, Rufus and Azrael would both practice breathing fire at each other, holding the flame for as long as possible. The flames would be countered in the air and keep both pokemon from being hit. The pokemon who stopped breathing first would have to withstand the fire until the other could not keep the flame going any longer. This taught them to compete with each other, and made each other tougher. Before long, Rufus could keep his flame going as long as, and often longer than, Azrael's. In the end, Azrael was more adept at hard hitting, short-lived moves, while Rufus could prolong his attacks.

Sheila did not like those drills and constantly voiced her opinion, despite my apathetic response to it. "This is not healthy for you or your pokemon! Letting your pokemon hurt each other is kind of counter-intuitive, don't you think?" she would say.

"It's better that they suffer a little now and become tough enough to take hits in future battles, than to take it easy now and die in battle later," was my common response. This would almost always stop the conversation, for Sheila did not want to breach the topic of Raeda. It had become almost taboo to mention her or the incident, and that was fine with me, for I did what I could to not think about her.

Beyond fire, Rufus unsurprisingly showed adeptness at manipulating darkness. The difference between Gilles' techniques and Rufus' is that Gilles uses his ability to jump between physical reality and non-physical reality to attack his foes, which is augmented by darkness. Darkness hides him and aids him in the employment his attacks, and as a ghost, he draws strength and energy from the darkness, but cannot manipulate it beyond energy extraction. Basically, ghosts draw energy from any source they can, including darkness, and use the energy against their foes. Some scientists have even said that ghosts become stronger during the night, whereas dark pokemon become stronger in the lack of light, regardless of the time of day.

Whereas Gilles can draw energy from the darkness, Rufus can directly manipulate the blackness, taking light away from areas, as well as drawing strength from the shadows. Instead of darkness being an energy source, for Rufus the darkness is a home and a tool. Because of Rufus' affinity for dark combat, he could distort light, limiting Gilles' effectiveness. He could even warp the darkness to overpower Gilles. Some of our training sessions involved him countering Gilles' shadow balls by clearing the condensed balls of shadow energy before Gilles could release them.

While Gilles and Rufus trained together, Azrael continued to build on his bulldoze, slashing, and bites. His bulldozing skills kept becoming stronger and more fearsome, and Gilles was learning how to better utilize his shadow jumping ability to hit a target before it could attack. I do not think he could use it to transport me or another creature through the shadows again any time soon, but he could use it for himself to nearly teleport beside a pokemon and hit it quickly. Beyond that, he continued to train his shadow balls, energy balls, hypnosis, and shadow punches. Rufus also practiced his ability to billow smog from his throat, which was searing hot and poisonous.

To augment my understanding of training fire pokemon, I called my father during the first week to ask his advice. "So, I was calling because you told me I could call you about training fire pokemon," I started.

"Oh? What have you caught?" he asked.

"I caught a Houndour not long ago and Azrael is teaching him to use the flamethrower move."

"A Houndour? It seems like you're really attracted to scarier types of pokemon… Well in any case, I can give you some advice for settling them down if they get too rowdy. Like fire, flame pokemon can be as fickle and prone to outburst. Has the Houndour displayed those tendencies?

"Not yet. Up until now, he has been very obedient. It might be because I sorta rescued him."

"Do I want to know from what?" my father asked, sounding nervous.

"Probably not, actually. But it's not something I want to talk about anyway."

"Hmm. Well in that case, when it comes to punishment, which I'm sure you will have to mete out at some point, do NOT use water. Find out a different method of punishing it than using water. I'm sure you know that water is very effective in battle, but that's where it is supposed to be used. Water will turn your fire pokemon against you faster than a Jolteon on X-Speed can catch a Torkoal. To calm one down, you need to let them blow off steam the old fashioned way: let them run. When you see parts of its body starting to glow with heat, it generally means it is becoming angered and you need to change the situation before they get too mad. They will tend to ignore reason when angered, and lash out violently, so just pay attention to him when he is with you."

"Alright, father. I'll keep this in mind. Thank you," I said gratefully.

"No problem. Your mother and I still see replays of your performance against Aoro. It's amazing how well you handled yourself. Azrael and Gilles were spectacular. Speaking of, how is Azrael, Gilles, and Raeda?" my father asked.

I gulped, "Azrael and Gilles are getting along great. They're getting stronger every day. Raeda… Do you remember the incident I mentioned not too long ago? Well… Raeda is no longer with us."

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that. Are you alright?

"We are getting through it," I said curtly.

"Alright… well if you need anything, make sure to call us. We'll do what we can," he said.

"Thank you. I'll let you know if I do."

"You're welcome. We look forward to your battle in Cerulean."

"I'll let you know when that approaches. I don't foresee us getting there any time soon, though. We are training in the peaks of Mt. Moon until it gets too cold."

"Be careful. You don't want to be up there when it snows. I've heard the snow can reach over ten feet high in the peaks," he cautioned.

"Don't worry, we won't be here when it gets to that point. I'll let you know when we get out of Mt. Moon. It will be a while but don't worry. We are used to training out in the wild. I need to go now but I'll call you in a week or so," I said, signaling the end of the call.

I practiced with my pokemon when it came to speed drills, endurance drills, and attacking. I would sprint with them; I would run distance with them; I would weigh Azrael down by riding on his back, and I would practice archery and knife combat.

Chris and Sheila were not as proactive in drills as I was, though they did participate often. I encouraged them to customize their drills to meet the different abilities of their pokemon, but they imitated my drills for the most part.

Chris had grown considerably quieter since the incident in the cave entrance. He tended to talk only to Sheila about random things and only to me when it came to training. I did not talk much for the first week in the mountains, either. By the end of the second week, Sheila approached me after the day's final training session and asked, "Are you ok? Really ok? You've been training with your pokemon like a madman for almost two weeks and you haven't talked to us very much. And when we talk around the fire at night, you seem like you're elsewhere. Talk to me, now."

I reflected on the time we had spent thus far and realized there was truth to her words. I trembled a little and said to her, "I haven't been ok since Raeda… The only way I can function is by trying not to think about it. The only way I know to block it out is with training."

"You need to think of a different way to cope that doesn't involve alienating your friends through apathy or working yourself and your pokemon into the dirt. You still wake up most mornings screaming for Raeda. She would have wanted you to be happy, even if she couldn't make you happy, herself," Sheila urged.

"I don't want to think about what she would have wanted. She can't ever want anymore," I said, a tear rolling down my face.

"If you are ever going to get over this, you NEED to think about it. Azrael told you to mourn her; not forget about her. Remember her and what she did before she died. Respect her by learning from her sacrifice and persevering. Your pokemon will obey you and follow your orders until they fall from exhaustion because they respect you. The least you can do is return the sentiment," she lectured.

Azrael had moved up behind me and put the top of his head against my back. I turned around and looked at him, saw the fierce glow in his eyes, and saw that he was ready to meet any challenge that I, or nature, could throw at him. His determination was not from a lack of caring about Raeda; I knew he was affected by Raeda's death. He had come to terms with the reality that she was not coming back and was moving on. I stared into his eyes for a time and shook my head with self-disgust.

"You're right, Azrael. I'm sorry that I've been so stupid. I've lost sight of everything by putting us through drilling hell. It's exactly what you said not to do. Sheila, I'm sorry for ignoring you and Chris. I'm going to be better, I promise," I said.

"I hope so. I'm not chastising you because I'm mad at you. We're worried about you and your pokemon. Don't let this not affect you, but don't let it break you. I've seen it happen, and you can't let it happen to you," Sheila said.

"I know. Thank you for caring. It means a lot to me," I said sincerely.

"Don't mention it. You may have your team, but we are group. As such, we are a team as well. Now come over and have a bite to eat. It's getting late and Chris is going to need to see your assurance. Chris only tries to talk to you about training nowadays. I'm not sure you've noticed, but he feels that is the only thing you respond to. You may not realize it, due to recent events, but he looks up to you. We both do. Your determination is second to none. I think it's one of the reasons you are able to command so much respect from your pokemon," Sheila said to me, smiling.

I looked back up to Azrael, who still held that fiery, determined look in his eyes. I smiled up at him and looked back to Sheila. Rufus had come to sit beside me and I rubbed the top of his head, behind his skull plate before Sheila grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the campfire. Gilles had also come over to us, though right behind Sheila. As soon as she turned around, his eyes and mouth enlarged and he let out a terrifying shriek, causing Sheila to scream in fear and jump back before punching through his body, fuming. That elicited laughs from everyone else in the camp, including me.

After she regained her composure and had a laugh herself, Sheila brought me over to the campfire and we sat down to eat. Azrael curled up behind me, raising his head to keep engaged with the group, Gilles circled above us somewhere, cackling occasionally, and Rufus curled up at my feet, within scratching distance of my hand.

Chris smiled at me. His Psyduck, Rey, was playing around with Shade. Lady was wrestling around with Chris's Ariados, Jade. His Zoroark, Pierce, was curled up next to his feet, like Rufus at mine. And Larry and Kara were snuggling with each other next to the fire.

The entire scene was much more cheery and light-hearted than reality had seemed. Our pokemon were enjoying themselves, and we were having a cheerful time under the stars, warmed by a hearty fire. Without Raeda, life seemed darker and less joyous, but I had forgotten that life offered so much to be grateful for. I had two friends, one of which I had been ungratefully ignoring for the most part. Our pokemon were healthy and relatively happy. And every one of my companions, pokemon or human, held the same passions and cared for each other.

This was the life of a trainer; it was dangerous and unforgiving. I had to learn the hard way, and one of my pokemon paid the ultimate price for the lesson, but that experience would make us stronger. I would never let that happen to another one of my pokemon because we would never be as weak. I was thinking with a clearer mind, and for the first time in half a month, I allowed myself to enjoy myself.

Later that night, I snuck out of the campsite and meandered to a nearby lake. I soon heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Rufus following. I smiled and continued on. Not long after that, I felt the ground swell a little bit from under me and I stomped twice, making a large dragon appear nearby. I smiled again and kept walking. Finally, my ghost made himself known above me by throwing a small pile of leaves on my head with a giggle.

When I stopped and looked out at the lake once I was close enough to see it in its moonlit glory, I looked around and found a razed log. I sat down upon it and my pokemon gathered around me to look out over the lake at my side. I let soft tears run down my cheek, as I chose to remember Raeda. I wept for a few minutes before standing up and wiping my eyes. I felt like I was losing weight from my shoulders, and even though it had not even been two weeks since her death, I did not feel guilty in letting her go. I cleared my throat and smiled at the lake, noting how perfectly the full moon reflected off of its smooth surface.

Just as I was about to turn to head back to camp, movement on the lake caught my eye. I walked closer and saw a creature hopping over the surface of the water about fifty feet from the shoreline, somehow leaving the water undisturbed. After a moment of study, I could make out characteristics of the mysterious creature; it was pinkish, round, and had a curled tail.

My jaw dropped. Clefairy were extremely rare. I had read about them in fairy tales, growing up, and so many myths surrounded them which usually pointed to a possible extraterrestrial origin. I thought for a second before deciding not to attempt to catch it. Seeing one was a sign of good luck and it was hopping around, enjoying a moonlit night on its serene lake.

I watched it bounce further over the lake until it reached the middle, where it hovered for a little while before floating off into the distance. I turned back towards camp and felt no remorse for passing up the opportunity to catch it, despite the outrageous price I could have asked for it. It was a mystical experience, and I enjoyed watching the little pink moon pokemon in its natural environment. I actually felt good about leaving it. Also, what would Sheila have thought?

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I awoke with a newfound sense of determination. I checked the levels of my pokemon to see where I stood after almost a month since I arrived at Mt. Moon, and since I started training Rufus. Azrael stood at level 29, Gilles at 27, and Rufus at 22. Looks like I've really been pushing them hard.

I woke my pokemon and took them outside, where the cold gripped me like a frozen coat. "Rufus, could you heat up for me?" I asked my Houndour. His white rings started glowing red and radiating heat, immediately providing me with some relief. His ability to keep us warm was a great advantage that he brought to the group.

It did not take long for me to make up my mind that we should gradually start heading back in the direction of the cave entrance. The weather was becoming much colder and my companions were growing restless.

For the time being, I started us on a low-intensity workout. I decided that Rufus needed training more than the others, for he was still fairly weaker than his teammates. To make things interesting and to involve the whole team, I instituted a new game. Gilles would amass a low-energy shadow ball and send it at Rufus, who would warp the darkness around it to divert its course towards Azrael instead. I gave Azrael the choice of taking the hit or trying to dodge it. He switched between the two options, choosing to build both toughness and quickness. I liked to refer to those exercises as batting exercises.

During one of our batting exercises, Chris came over to talk to me. He walked up to me and said, "Hey. I was having a problem with something. I have my pokemon running basic agility and strength drills, but nothing that actually brings the team together. Looking at what you're doing now, it seems like they are all having some fun training and being a team. What can I do?"

"Hmm," I thought. "Well let's see. You have a Psyduck, an Ariados, and a Zoroark. What you need to do is figure out what weaknesses can be exploited on a particular pokemon but without hurting said pokemon. Look at Gilles. He is weak to dark attacks so I'm having Rufus distort the attacks instead of Gilles himself," I instructed, pointing at my pokemon.

"I see. The only weaknesses I can see are Rey's psychic weakness to both Pierce's darkness and Jade's bug moves," he said to me.

I immediately caught a flaw in his knowledge and said, "There's a problem. Ariados may be bugs, but their poison half-type overpowers their bug-type, rending them vulnerable to psychic abilities."

"Oh… That would explain why Jade doesn't do so well against psychic pokemon… But how do you know that? Why does one subtype get preference over another in one circumstance but not in another?" he said, visibly taken aback.

"Your PokeDex has this handy encyclopedia of information over all the known pokemon. Spend some time researching and you will learn stuff you didn't know about your own pokemon. Once you know your pokemon, create an exercise that references something you have experience in. I've played baseball since I was very young, so this is like a batting practice. You have to customize it yourself to make it meaningful and fun for both you and your pokemon," I told him.

"Thank you so much. I will get right on that," he said, beaming.

"No problem. Let me know if you need anything else," I said, patting him on the back.

"Ok! Oh. And… I never said anything before, but I'm really sorry about Raeda," he said awkwardly.

"…Thanks, Chris," I said after a brief moment of surprise.

"I also want you to know that I'm happy you're doing better. I was debating about whether or not to continue on through Mt. Moon alone because… well, you didn't seem like you needed me or wanted me to be here… But I see why it appeared that way now! I'm just happy you're back and doing better. I want to talk to you about why you want to take so long to get to the Indigo Plateau later, too. For now, thanks for the advice," he said quickly and ran back to camp before I could say anything.

I was a little dumbfounded. I must have been acting worse than I thought, I thought to myself. I continued with training, thinking about Chris and Sheila. When I was finished I took my pokemon out to hunt.

When we hunted, I still let my pokemon utilize their own methods for the most part, unless the foe was stronger than the average pokemon. Stantler were almost always a group endeavor, though having Rufus made it significantly easier to take them down. The combination of Gilles' psychic clouding ability and Rufus' psychic blocking darkness rendered the Stantler psychically helpless.

Later that night, as we sat around the campfire feasting on a couple of fresh Stantler kills, Chris brought up something I had not considered. "Have you thought about if you are going to challenge the Fighting Dojo?" he asked.

"I honestly haven't thought about it. Where is it being held this year?" I asked, knowing that it tended to stay away from Pewter or Cerulean so that it could draw in a more talented crowd of challengers.

"I found out on my PokeDex, after looking at information on Psyduck, that the Fighting Dojo is being held in Vermillion this season. I've heard it's really difficult," said Chris.

"I haven't heard of that before. What is it?" asked Sheila.

"It's a challenge that stems from a fighting-based gym that competed for the sixth badge slot in the Indigo League a long time ago," I informed her. "Since fighting type pokemon don't stand a chance against psychics, they were defeated and weren't awarded a place in the Indigo League. Since then, it shows up in a different city every so often to offer a fighting-type contest to any trainer who issues a challenge, regardless of how many badges the trainer has earned."

"I see. So why would it be any more difficult than any other gym?" Sheila asked.

"I've heard that the gym leader and his apprentices fight you while your pokemon battle, making it more difficult to order your pokemon to attack, or even watch the fight," Chris said fearfully.

"That sounds horrible! I'm not going to let some guy beat on me while my pokemon fight. I'm no brawler," said Sheila defensively.

"That actually sounds like a good bit of fun to me," I said, scratching my chin.

"Do you have any experience fighting?" asked Chris.

"Yeah, he wrestled for a long time," chimed in Sheila before I could open my mouth to respond.

"Oh, cool! Could you show me some moves? I kinda want to try out the Fighting Dojo but I don't know how to fight," asked Chris.

"Well, I guess I could teach you a little bit. It would give me something to do besides practicing archery and stabbing trees and bushes," I said. "Plus, the Fighting Dojo would finally give me a chance to practice my own skills in a match."

"Awesome! Just don't go too hard on me at the beginning; I've never fought before," Chris said.

"We'll see," I laughed.

"Hey now, you better go easy on him!" shouted Sheila. "We don't need a broken Chris out here."

We all laughed and enjoyed the rest of the night. Come morning, we were back at it again, though this time I practiced my wrestling moves on Chris. I was a little rusty from not having practiced since I attended school, but I still beat Chris easily. It was no surprise but at least he learned quickly.

"If I shoot in to grab your leg, sprawl down and hit your hip to the floor; OVER THE LEG I SHOOT FOR!" "NO. NEVER reach back for my head or I will use your arm to throw you over and pin you instantly!" "Always keep moving, whether you are in control or trying to escape!" "You scuffed your knees and elbows? GET OVER IT! Your opponent won't care and neither do I!"

I may have been a little overenthusiastic…. But he learned quickly! By the time we reached the mountain pass that housed the dreaded cave entrance, he was putting up quite a fight. I guess a good coach can work wonders.

The days were very cold, and starting to dip below freezing temperatures, and snow was not too far off. We also started seeing camps of other trainers. I assumed they were the camps of trainers who finally found a way to progress through the mountain since the Zubat theft. We approached one campsite one afternoon where a few trainers were sitting around and eating, in order to find out. We returned our pokemon, of course, so as not to appear threatening. "Hey there! Mind if we join you?" shouted Sheila with a friendly smile on her face.

The four people turned to face us and I saw two female faces and two male faces staring back at us. One of the male faces, nearly covered entirely with a jacket hood, spoke out, "Absolutely not! Come on over!" so we happily walked over and shared the campfire.

"So, are you all trainers?" asked Sheila innocently.

The boy who appeared to be the group leader took down his hood to reveal long brown locks of hair, hazel eyes, perfectly white teeth, and a charming smile. He appeared to be around the same age as Chris. "Yup! We are indeed. And who might you be? What is such a pretty girl doing in these mountain tops?" he said, flashing his pearly whites.

Chris and I rolled our collective eyes and listened as Sheila said, "Oh thanks but I doubt I'm looking that great right now. Spending so long out in the wilderness makes it impossible to keep up a healthy appearance," muttered Sheila embarrassedly.

"Oh well you had me fooled. If this is a bad look for you, then you must never get a moment alone when you aren't looking bad," he said, once again spraying charm at Sheila like a Stunky would a predator. It was horribly nauseating to witness.

"Oh please. Stop it now, you. I'm Sheila, by the way. What's your name?" said Sheila, her face as red as a Cherubi.

"I'm Jack. This is Amanda, Charlotte, and Jeb," he introduced. I chimed in, introducing myself and Chris, though Jack seemed to be ignoring us, which was beginning to get aggravating.

"Charlotte is our tour guide. We just arrived yesterday and have been enjoying the sunlight," Jack informed us.

"We're pokemon trainers, as well. Any news from Pewter City about the stolen Zubat?" I asked.

"…Yeah I know you are trainers. My Noctowl saw you all approaching. And who cares about the Zubat anyway? I want to know why you kidnapped this angel and brought her into the mountains," said Jack. That officially pissed me off, but Sheila did not seem to notice his insult over his flattery.

"Just wondering how you managed to find a guide. I mean, we didn't need a guide. It's not like competent trainers need a guide to get through Mt. Moon. Trainers have only been doing it since the beginning of the Indigo League," I said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, what you implying?" he asked.

"Only that you act so confident about yourself, yet you had to hire a guide to get through the mountain. It seems a little ironic to me," I jabbed.

"Hey kid, don't make me teach you a lesson in front of the Lady," he threatened.

"Kid? I'm older than you, kid. And what lesson could you possibly teach me? How to get lost in a cave on your own? Or how to spray toxic gas from my mouth like a Stunky?" I taunted.

"HEY! Calm down boys! What's the problem?" Sheila interfered.

"Why are you traveling with this dumbass, Sheila?" Jack said. "You could come with us. We got a guide and strong pokemon to protect us. I'm sure you wanna ditch those dorks." Sheila responded by laughing very loud and long.

"I'm sure you are very talented with training your pokemon, Jack. But I'm going to have to put my money on my friend," she said, in between fits of laughter.

"Well it looks like I'll have to show you how a man battles, then," said Jack, challenging me. "C'mon then. Let's see what you've got. Falcon, come down here!" he yelled to his pokemon.

I glared at him and sent a frown in Sheila's direction. I sighed and then stood up to take my place in front of Jack, away from the campsite. "You're awfully cocky to show me your pokemon before I release mine," I stated.

"Bring it, dude. I'm going to show these chicks that you're nothing," he taunted. Alright then, this is going to be fun. I raised a pokeball and released Gilles. "Kay, Falcon, take to the air and put it to sleep!" he ordered his Noctowl. The man-sized owl flew up into the sky.

"Gilles, follow him and turn incorporeal. Use your shadow sneak to disrupt his hypnosis and then hypnotize him back. Then shadow ball," I told him. Gilles rose up into the air, cackling maniacally. The Noctowl's eyes lit up blue as it tried to psychically induce sleep on Gilles. However, in a split second, Gilles extended his shadow towards the Noctowl unnaturally through the air and jumped through it, hitting the owl in the left eye with a quick jab.

This caused the owl to hoot in pain and flail in the air, and then Gilles put it to sleep with his hypnotism, causing it to fall from the sky. It hit the ground and soon after, three different shadow balls pummeled its body. The Noctowl was knocked out and returned as Jack let out a scream of anger, higher in pitch than I was expecting.

"How manly…" I taunted. "I'll use a different pokemon this time and let you decide who fights him. Just to make things even. Good job, Gilles. Expertly done!" I said. My jibe seemed to anger him even more, to my delight. I released Azrael, who stood in front of him, towering over both of us. Jack's face went pale, and I heard a couple gasps from his companions.

"Y-you're THAT guy? Crap! Ok then, it's too late to back out now. It's your turn, Phin!" he yelled, releasing a four-foot-tall blue crocodile. It had red spines on its head and down its spine and tail. It also had a mix of blue and tan coloring on its stomach that identified it as a Croconaw. It opened its mouth defensively, revealing uneven rows of jagged teeth, against Azrael's intimidating snarling. "Ok let's see if that earth dragon of yours can withstand my water moves!" Jack yelled confidently.

I stomped twice ordering Azrael to submerge, and he followed my order. I then thought for a second. I knew that Croconaw could learn ice moves, which would be severely effective against Azrael. I needed Azrael to hit with surprise attacks and not stay in melee range for long. I stomped, slid my foot forward on its side, then stomped twice again, and then dragged my foot in a circle on the ground.

I saw the trainer's eyes go wide and he yelled, "Move! Don't stay still!" The Croconaw attempted to evade the dragon, and if Azrael's sand wave had not been so massive, it would have succeeded. Azrael emerged to the side of the pokemon and lifted a massive wave of earth, catching the water pokemon with the edge and sending it crashing into the ground.

As the Croconaw attempted to rise up, the ground sunk beneath it and started swirling, taking the Croconaw with it. As it tried to escape, the soil pummeled it from underneath, while I stomped twice, ordering Azrael to emerge. He did so and I yelled, "Sandstorm and then flames!"

"Get out of there!" Jack yelled. "Swim, Phin! Water gun!" Unfortunately for his Croconaw, quicksand is not water; you cannot swim effectively through it. It sucks you down while you struggle, and the only way to escape is to stop moving and make your body as flat as possible, leaving you open for attack. This was the beauty of the sand tomb attack. If it was not kept up, though, the ground would harden after a little time passed, so Azrael needed to act fast.

Azrael stood above the muddy whirlpool with jets of water flying at him, and then disappeared into a dusty vortex. He then let loose a torrent of fire straight into the whirlpool. The torrent of fire streamed onto the trapped water pokemon doing little damage at first. But as the stream of fire continued to fall on the Croconaw and the resulting steam started becoming thinner, the reptilian pokemon started to dry out and become affected by the fire.

The sand tomb gradually hardened, forcing the crocodile to trudge out amidst an uncompromising and unending stream of fire. Despite the thinning water that it shot at Azrael, and despite its attempts to bite Azrael, who was just out of range, the water pokemon was beginning to roast.

Once it started yelping in agony, Jack returned the Croconaw with a look of regret on his face. I yelled out, "Too much? Ok, I'll send in a different pokemon." Then I looked to my pokemon and said, "Azrael, you are amazing!" and switched him out for Rufus.

Jack swore and sent out his Pinsir at the same time. Brilliant. "Alright, Rufus. Flamethrower!" I yelled and he sent forward a torrent of fire, just like Azrael had at the Croconaw, except at the intimidating bug. The five foot-tall insect with a giant set of thorny pincers on its head charged forward through the fire towards Rufus. Perhaps it had misjudged its own strength, perhaps it had misjudged Rufus' strength, or perhaps it just had not been trained to resist fire, for it collapsed five feet in front of Rufus, burning and smoking.

"No!" Jack yelled out, and returned his bug pokemon before it roasted alive. He then sent out a fourth pokemon. A Makuhita stood in front of him now; a small, fat, yellow, humanoid fighting pokemon with black fists. He yelled, "Take out that hound! Sand-attack!"

The Makuhita started throwing sand at Rufus, who snarled and barked at its enemy. "Rufus, smog and then flamethrower!" I ordered. He unleashed a black cloud that poured over the fighting pokemon, causing it to start hacking and attempting to escape from the haze. Soon after, the fog lit up with fire as a fire stream burned into the fleeing Makuhita. The wind blew some of the smog away and the Makuhita moved fast, allowing it to escape the incendiary fog. It ran around to the side of Rufus and punched him in the ribs, hard.

Rufus was thrown to the side by the vital throw and quickly rose, but the Makuhita was already on top of him, hitting multiple times very quickly. "Flamethrower, Rufus!" I yelled, and the Makuhita received a face-full of fire. It screeched and fell back, and Rufus stood up, continuing his stream of fire into the poor fighting pokemon. It fell back, shielding its face and finally Jack returned it.

"Good job, Rufus! That's two for two for you!" I yelled. I noticed him shudder and his white ridges on his back started glowing red. I quickly returned him, recognizing the symptoms of his increasing rage. I would have to let him blow off some steam in a little bit, away from everyone else.

Sheila was laughing at Jack, saying, "Maybe you shouldn't be so cocky and insulting to random people. It tends to bite you in the ass." She glanced in my direction, and gave a wink. Ha ha. Jack looked like he was about to cry. I walked up to him and held out my hand.

"I'm not shaking your hand, dork," was his reply.

"Have you never lost before? You owe me cash. Arceus only knows what you've done with that hand Mr. suave. Maybe you should learn a little humility," I said to him.

"Oh… Yeah… My money's in my tent," he said stomping off towards his little shelter. I sat down next to Sheila, who was still laughing.

The other guy, Jeb, looked at me and said, "Thank you so much for bringing him down a peg or three. He is way too cocky for his own good. We would have a long time ago but his pokemon are strong." I nodded, appreciating the sentiment.

The girl, Amanda I believe, smiled at me and said, "That was impressive. He might have been good, but you smashed him. We all saw your match with Aoro and, though this wasn't as impressive as the gym match, it was still cool. How long have you been out here," she asked, scooting closer to me.

Jack approached, threw some money at me, and then stomped away to tend to his defeated pokemon.

"Oh. Well… We've been out here for over a month now, I think… The battle was no big deal, though. My pokemon are the ones who did the fighting," I said, a little embarrassed as I picked up the money and ignored Jack.

"Yeah but you led them. And you looked so assured, too. Maybe you could show me a thing or two about training?" she asked, roping an arm inside mine.

"U-umm… Sure… I think," I said uncomfortably.

"Oookay then, I think we have somewhere we need to be, now," said Sheila loudly. She yanked me up and out of Amanda's claws, and started pulling me away.

"Oh no! Where do you need to be?" protested Amanda.

"Anywhere but here!" retorted Sheila. She kept dragging me away, and I let her, seeing Amanda pouting at the fireside, until she said, "Can't leave you for five seconds before you start being a cocky jerk, can I?"

"Huh? Me!?" I rounded on her. "You were the one who got me into the battle because YOU were being flattered by Jack McDoucheCanoe!"

"But if you hadn't shown off, we wouldn't be having this problem," she scorned. Chris was following us, giggling as he went.

"What problem?" I asked. "He challenged me and I beat him. Where's the problem?"

"Just stop being a jerk and let's go find a place to make camp, away from the other jerk and his fanclub," she said, ignoring me, and proceeding to lead me further away. "Why does everyone who does even a little well in the pokemon league have a head like a Drifblim?" she said to herself. As I walked on my own, I released my pokemon, except for Rufus, and praised and congratulated them on their performances. Azrael hummed and Gilles cackled in response.

We found a nice place to settle, in a clearing near a stream and set about making camp. I let Rufus out of his pokeball, and his raised heckles steamed. I tried to calm him down with words, but he still fumed for a few minutes, literally billowing steam out from his mouth. He eventually settled down after destroying some flora and we ran back to camp. There was an earthy ring surrounding its perimeter, as usual, and Azrael was lighting the campfire rather enthusiastically.

Rufus whined and I looked at him. He stared at Azrael lighting the fire and I said, "Aww, you want to light the campfire?" Rufus looked up at me and whined again. "I'll let you make tomorrow's fire. How about that?" He gave me a pouting look and I said, "Oh don't give me that look. If you hadn't lost your temper and needed to cool off, you would have been here to make the fire. Here," I picked up a stick and held it out for him. "You can light this up and I will add it to the fire. That will have to do." He blew an ember onto it but did not look satisfied, and then huffed and joined me in walking into the camp.

While I allowed Rufus to help with the fires most nights, cooking the food turned out to be an interesting ordeal for him. Azrael's attempts to teach Rufus to cook the food properly would have been successful if Rufus could properly control his flames. The problem with the Houndour line is that their fire is mostly a result of internal toxic chemicals reacting violently. The chemicals leave worse burns than normal fire, and some exceptional Houndoom are said to have left unendingly painful burn wounds.

Luckily, Rufus's internal toxins were not as concentrated as those of a Houndoom, so when I ate meat cooked with his flame, I did not become too ill. I instead only vomited and spent the night wracked with stomach pain. After that, I only allowed him to light the fire, and would need to wait an hour or so for the chemical residue on the firewood to burn away. Since that time, a small portion of our training was dedicated to developing Rufus's ability to produce pure flames without relying too heavily on his internal chemicals. Of course, we also trained mostly in utilizing his natural toxins, for they were very effective in battle.

When we arrived, Sheila and Chris were preparing their meals and I noticed Sheila eyeing me with a frown. "What is it?" I asked.

Instead of answering me, Sheila ignored me, and did so for the rest of the night. When I sat down next to Chris, he looked at me and said, "I don't understand women…"

I looked back at him and muttered, "Me neither."

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The amount of trainers we came across started to grow as we made our way through the immense mountain path. With the abundance of trainers came an abundance of challenges. I was challenged three times by random people who saw us walking by, and each time my pokemon easily conquered their foes. I tried to use Rufus more since he did not have as much experience in battles as Gilles and Azrael, and he rose to the task, making me proud.

On November 25th, we were a couple days from the camp entrance, and were going about our normal routine of setting up camp. Unfortunately, with the rise in trainer numbers came the decline of wild pokemon in the vicinity to hunt. I had started hunting at night because the other trainers were sleeping and wild pokemon felt safer coming out. On my nightly hunt with my pokemon, we were making our way through the trees when we came across the sounds of something feasting on another.

I whispered and told Azrael to burrow, and I put a finger to my mouth, letting Rufus know to be quiet. We approached a small clearing where a pokemon was crouched down over another. I could only make out the silhouette of the pokemon since we were in the cover of trees and since it was far enough away. I sent Gilles ahead and told him to hypnotize the creature, so that I could see what it was before I decided if I wanted to kill it for food.

He zoomed forward and signaled me that he was done with his task by cackling loudly. I rushed into the clearing to find something that made my jaw drop and my blood to run cold at the same time. It was an Absol. My awe was due to the fact that they are very rare pokemon and highly valued. My blood ran cold because I knew that they are known to precede natural disasters. I felt that something bad was coming soon.

As I stared at it for a couple seconds, it snapped out of its hypnotism and attacked Gilles, using a dark bite to latch onto him despite his incorporeal state. I quickly stomped and slid my foot forward while saying to Rufus, "Light him up." Rufus bounded forward and let loose a stream of flame at the Absol.

It let go of Gilles immediately and, with unparalleled speed, rushed forward and hit Rufus, sending him sprawling to the ground. It looked at me and snarled before being lifted into the air by a force underneath it. Azrael grabbed onto its leg before slamming it down onto the ground. Gilles then tried to hypnotize it again, which failed, and Rufus leapt in to the battle, biting it hard.

"Everyone, I'm going to catch it. Keep it down." Azrael had it pinned with his large multi-clawed arms, Gilles was staring at it intensely with a scary face, and Rufus was latched onto its scythe-like tail. I ran up to it and stuck an arrow at its throat. "We are doing this the easy way or the hard way, Absol. You choose which." I pulled out a pokeball and pressed it against the Absol's silky white fur. It disappeared and four seconds later the ball burst, sending it out, snarling.

I dodged to the side as my pokemon swarmed the three foot-tall feline. I notched an arrow and shot it through its rear leg, hamstringing it. It cried out and I pressed one of my greatballs into its soft fur. This time, though it squirmed and wiggled, the ball held and captured the Absol. "Great job guys. I need to get that arrow out of its leg now. I'm going to need you all to help me if…" I checked the ball, "She won't cooperate." It was a level 29 female Absol; she was strong.

"Ok, here we go," I said as I released her some distance from me. She made a move to rush me and I returned her. Here we go again. I forgot about this routine. I released her again, and instead of running to me, she turned and started taking off into the wilderness. I recalled her before she was too far away and released her again. Finally, after a few more tries, she sat still, breathing heavily.

"Rufus, I need you to go to her and let her know that I need to get the arrow out of her leg," I said to him, and he gave a short bark before approaching the Absol. She curled her lip upon being approached but Rufus continued on his course. He sat down a few feet away and began making noises and movements that suggested communication. He looked over to me after a minute and I moved forward.

Azrael and Gilles moved with me, showing the Absol that any move to hurt me would be unwise. I stopped at her haunch, and received an angry look. I took out a potion and sprayed the wound, causing the flesh to reject the arrow and eject it onto the grass before healing over. I picked up the arrow and backed up. "Gilles put her to sleep," I ordered.

My ghost surprised the Absol by suddenly unleashing a quick psychic attack, leaving it stunned for a moment. As it slept, I returned it to its pokeball. "Good job, again, everyone. Now, we've got a long night ahead of us. Let's go. We're leaving," I said to my pokemon. This was one sign that I was not going to ignore.

Ten minutes later we arrived back in our campsite and I woke up my companions. "We have to leave now. I just caught an Absol. You know what that means? Something is bad is coming. Probably a very bad storm or earthquake. We need to get going. Start packing!" There was little protest because both Sheila and Chris knew the mythos surrounding Absol.

I finished packing first, so I said to my companions, "I'm going to head to all of the trainer camps around here to rouse them and warn them. You all have my Dex number, so if you need me, call me. I will send you a confirmation to use GPS to locate my Dex so that you know where I am as long as we are within range of a radio tower. Send out a warning to the rangers as well. See you in a bit. Rufus, start howling."

I ran off northward with my pokemon, while Rufus let off a high-pitched howl that could rouse anyone almost a mile away. I recalled Azrael because he could not travel as fast. He could only keep up so long, even being in his evolved form. In the first campsite I came to, people were coming out of their tents wrapped in thick coats. "What the hell is going on? Who are you?" I was asked.

"You all need to head to the Mt. Moon cave entrance immediately. I just encountered an Absol and caught it. Hurry, pack up, and get going," I responded. "Here, look." I showed one of them the greatball's holopanel which showed the date and time of capture.

"Oh shit, man. Thanks for letting us know," he said, growing scared.

"No problem. Thank me for it by spreading out to other trainer camps to let them know as well. I'm heading northwest to let the camps that way know. Then I'll be heading back south to the cave. Here are my Dex number and the nearest cave," I said to them, marking one of their PokeDexes with the location of the cave that I had marked on my own Dex. I gave them my number and told them to call me if there were any problems or signs of the natural disaster coming. Then I ran with my pokemon.

If I had not put myself and my pokemon through drills for so long, I probably would not have had the endurance to go on the way I did. I ran and ran, notifying seven different trainer campsites in the span of an hour before heading back to my own camp. It was all packed up and there were other trainers gathering.

When I ran into the campsite, one person looked at me and asked, "Hey, are you the one who said he encountered the Absol?" I confirmed it and he said, "Well could you prove it? I don't want to have to high-tail it twenty miles to the cave entrance because some kid was having a bad dream."

I released the sleeping Absol in the middle of the camp, scaring many kids instantly and almost instantly waking the Absol. I had Gilles sneakily assault her with another hypnotize before returning her to her ball. "Believe me now?" I asked.

They all nodded and started heading out of camp southward after seeing the Absol, a few of them thanking me before they left. I stayed behind and called Sheila, who told me that she and Chris were on their way back with a small group of trainers. They had called and informed the rangers of the warning and had sent groups of trainers back to our campsite to meet me when I got back, since they did not believe the warning.

I waited for them and soon after they arrived, my PokeDex lit up and started issuing a loud warning. I noticed there was an ignore function that allowed me to turn of the warning, so I pressed it, already aware of the threat. Then I headed out with my friends and the rest of the trainers.

We traveled twenty-two miles that night. At a quickened pace, it took us six and a half hours to reach the valley where the cave was located. It had grown very cold during that time, and my PokeDex showed the temperature at 8°F. By the time we reached the valley, we were among a large group of trainers, about fifty in number by the looks of it. As we entered the valley, it started snowing, and I knew that we had about two miles left to travel.

It was slow at first, but after ten minutes, the snowfall started picking up in intensity. We all started running. Most trainers recalled their slower pokemon so that they could run faster, and some actually rode larger pokemon. As the weather grew worse, I even saw some people landing from flight atop larger bird pokemon. The snowstorm quickly became a blizzard. I rushed to the front of the group and yelled out, "Follow me! Follow the howling!"

I looked at Rufus and nodded, signaling him to start howling as we ran. Sheila and Chris were right behind us but in front of the rest of the trainers. The snow was building up fast, and it made running difficult and for Rufus, painful. His heat melted the snow, causing water to drench his body. I could only keep going, after not being able to see ten feet in front of me, by using my compass on my knife, and I used my PokeDex sparingly so that I would not risk dropping it in my haste.

Finally, after another twenty minutes, we arrived at the entrance of the cave, heaving from running the last mile and a half. The snow had become almost a foot high in that time and was continuing to grow taller. The entrance of the cave first became evident by the amount of noise we heard. It sounded like someone had tripped over a couple of Loudred.

We burst into the cave to find a crowd of trainers waiting for us. I noticed that there were, indeed, a few Loudred at the entrance calling out to trainers. After we passed by them, however, the cave was devoid of their shrieking. Some other pokemon were maintaining light screens behind them which countered their annoying sound waves.

I did not realize how many trainers were occupying the cave until I walked down the tunnel, which was lit by the flash techniques of many pokemon. The crowd must have been over 300 hundred people; it was absolutely packed. By the time I found my way to the edge of the crowd, it was beginning to die down in volume behind me. To my utter surprise, there was only one pokemon standing guard at the edge of the crowd. It was a Nidorino and it seemed to be taking a nap.

Concerned, I released Azrael in order to offer some protection. I heard a large array of gasps behind me and turned. Most of the crowd was staring at me. I noticed Sheila and Chris were not with me, either. Rufus stood at my side and Azrael towered behind me, still not too tall for the large tunnel entrance.

"Umm… Hi everyone… I figured we needed guards down here," I awkwardly announced. Giggles ran through the crowd. Then, to my relief, Sheila came running through the crowd towards me. When she stopped in front of me, she said, "H-hey. We might have let slip that you were the one to warn everyone about the storm…"

"Oh," I said. "Why are they all staring at me like that?"

"Probably because they recognize Azrael, and probably because-" She was cut off as three adults announced their presence while making their way towards me through the crowd, two of them absolutely monstrous in size, hushing everyone. I noticed Azrael shift behind me and I turned to look. His head was facing the other direction, and he was emitting a low rumbling from his stomach, showing his protective aggression.

I followed his gaze to see three legends appearing from the darkness. A nine-foot-tall bipedal and steel-plated dinosaur emerged on the left side of the tunnel. I recognized it as an Aggron, and not just any Aggron; the missing steel plate on its right shoulder identified it as Aoro's elite Aggron: Crusher.

The second pokemon emerged on the right side. It was a five-and-a-half-foot-tall steel rimmed penguin with three golden horns in the shape of a trident on its head, though the middle horn was missing. It was Cerulean gym leader Katherine Holmes' League Empoleon: Kallan.

The final pokemon emerged between the two pokemon. It was a twelve foot-tall rock-encrusted T-Rex. Its footfalls shook the tunnels as it approached and it growled back at Azrael, causing the walls to reverberate like the inside of a drum. League Champion Bruce Volker's Tyrantrum, Caesar, stopped in front of Azrael, who locked eyes with the rocky dinosaur with no sign of fear.

I was immeasurably awestruck. It was not fearful awe in which I stood, but of respect and humility. I placed a hand on Azrael's thigh and told him to relax. I turned around to see the three adults standing in front of me. All three of them smiled. Bruce Volker, who was roughly the same size as Aoro Craul, stood in the middle with Aoro to his left and Katherine to his right.

Bruce's vest held the Champion's crest on its right side. His hair was long, black, and hung in a Ponytatail. The crowd of trainers around them stood no less than five feet away on each side, for an intimidating aura surrounded them, especially the Champion. "Are you the trainer who sent the warning?" Champion Volker asked, his deep voice almost matching that of Caesar.

I cleared my throat and said, "Technically no. That would be my friends, Sheila and Chris. But I am the one who told them to do so."

Leader Craul laughed, a booming sound which echoed off the walls. "I remember you, kid. I remember your dragon, too!" he said.

Champion Volker's eyes narrowed as he studied Azrael, and then he turned to Craul and said, "You weren't exaggerating." He then looked at me with the same narrowed eyes and said, "Your dragon looks familiar. His black scales and size are rather abnormal. He looks a lot like the dragoness Kira in her youth."

"Your observation is correct, sir," I replied. "This is Kira's only offspring, Azrael. My uncle's name was Ray and he was Kira's caretaker after Champion Lorelei passed," I informed him. A large gasp ran through the crowd, and whispering erupted amongst its members.

"Is that so? I find it difficult to believe. No offspring was ever reported," Volker said, cocking an eyebrow.

"No one knew about her progeny. I found him in the underground network that she created and cared for him for over a year before I gained his respect," I said.

"Interesting… I might normally have looked into this more deeply but you do seem to have him under control. I've never seen such a large Gabite, let alone any that would submit to a beginning trainer. He must see something special in you," he ruminated. "But that is all aside from the point. That is, the point why we are here. We are under the impression that a trainer sent out warning before this storm hit. Because of that warning, over four hundred trainers were able to reach safety. And you would be that trainer?" he asked.

"Yes sir, I am. I encountered and caught an Absol. That was reason enough for me," I told the Champion.

There followed a short silence, during which Leader Craul and the Champion's faces twisted into smiles and Leader Holmes stared at me pensively. 28th Indigo League Champion Bruce Volker then walked up to me, shook my hand, and said, "Well done, son!"

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gabite

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndour

**Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Kara – Roselia

Larry – Flaaffy

Lady – Ledian

Shade – Ralts

**Trainer: Christopher Johnson; KA592SA230**

**Pokemon in Possession:**

Pierce – Zoroark

Rey – Psyduck

Jade – Ariados

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note:

Alright! Cool stuff is cool. Thank you to gallantmon7196, mockstevenh, and SilverFlameHaze for your reviews! I really do appreciate your feedback. Gallantmon, I wanted to make Raeda's death early on for several reasons, but I also felt bad that it happened so soon. It all happens for a reason though ;). And SilverFlameHaze, thanks for pointing out that the narrator's name hasn't been revealed yet. It won't be for a long time *laughing maniacally* I took some inspiration from other pokemon fics and one of my favorites is waiting to release the narrator's name until some awesome moment… like the end of the story. But now we've got Rufus, who I know will never take Raeda's place, but will still make a great addition to the team. More to come!


	9. Chapter 9: Emergence

Chapter 9

The wind shrieked outside of the cave's entrance, but it did not drown out the roar of the crowd of pokemon trainers. Despite the fact that most were not making much noise, the combined sound of several hundred whispers, clatters, and scuffling caused the walls to reverberate with a low moan. Bruce Volker, Aoro Craul, Sheila, Chris, and I all sat around a small fire. The Cerulean gym leader had disappeared without a word, earlier.

During our time around the fire, after the snow began to pile up to the height of my waist, Champion Volker had released a Xatu and sent it out into the blizzard. The Xatu could cast a light screen upon itself to protect it from the harsh snow, which helped it in its quest to psychically scan the terrain for the minds of any trainer. A few times during the morning, Volker would suddenly leave the fireside, and take off into the sky on the back of his Champion Charizard. Each time, he would return within fifteen minutes, clutching a shivering trainer or two.

"It is my duty and responsibility to be present and help in whatever way I can, whenever disaster strikes," Champion Volker said after his first leave of absence.

During our time waiting, we talked about a few things. Volker was very interested to hear about my history with Azrael. I recounted to him the stories of Kira, my father's business which she destroyed, and the time I spent caring for and training with Azrael. Rufus sat beside me and allowed me to scratch his sides while we talked. "You are somethin' else, kid. I'm very curious as to the identity of the father, though. I'll have to look into it during my free time," Volker said, scratching his chin.

"I'll say!" said Aoro. "If I didn't have a gym to run, I'd like to watch your gym battle with Kate. But I might be able to spare a few minutes to watch you on T.V. Here's my number. Let me know when you schedule a battle. And you two," he said, regarding Sheila and Chris. "I'm sure you're not all sidelined in all this. What're your stories?"

"Well we all sorta train together," replied Sheila. "He's a little more gung ho about it, though. I'm Sheila and I'm from Hoenn. I already had two badges before I met up with these two."

"I'm Chris. I'm from Saffron and I don't really have much of a story. I mean, my Zoroark tried to kill me before he became my starter, and we became friends, but that is about as exciting as my story gets," Chris said.

"You know, I remember both of you!" exclaimed Aoro. "I remember your accent and was curious as to why you only had two badges, Sheila, and I remember that tough little Roselia. I also remember that Zoroark, Chris. Not many trainers have one of them. You all make quite an odd little group," he laughed. "A lot of interesting characters."

"I'll second that!" said Volker with a laugh.

After a few hours passed and no more trainers were found, Volker's Xatu returned and Volker turned to Leader Craul, "I think it's time," he told him. Champion Volker cleared his voice loudly, causing a wave of silence to pass over the large crowd. He then yelled out, "Alright everyone, listen up! I understand that many of you have hired private guides to lead you through Mt. Moon. I also know that many of you guides have very little experience traveling through the mountain, only passing through a couple of times before, and only took the job for a quick buck. While I appreciate your zeal in helping trainers continue their journeys, especially after it took so long for the Pewter City Zubat trainers to issue their apologies and admit their inability to conduct business, I'm afraid to say that we have to step in."

No one spoke as Volker's eyes passed over the crowd. "Now, the mountain is large and spacious, but this many trainers and guides traveling together and passing through simultaneously is a danger to both the ecosystem of the caves and to everyone in the group. Food will become scarce quickly, as well as pokemon. For that reason, Aoro and Katherine will be leading the groups. They will take everyone through as quickly as possible. They will also help clear the snow that is accumulating across the mountain range when you have to emerge from the caves and traverse the mountain passes. Any questions?"

One kid raised his hand and Volker nodded his acknowledgement for the boy to speak. "What if we don't want to follow the group? I didn't hire a guide and I wasn't really here just to pass through…"

"Good question! I'm sure some of you want to go at your own pace," Volker said. "That is fine. I'm certain that the vast majority of you will want to travel with us so it should be no problem for a few of you to go your own way. Just know that when you have to take the mountain passes between tunnel systems, you will have no support in clearing the snow."

I sighed in relief. I had no desire to travel with all those people; I preferred traveling with my little group. Volker started again, "Alright now. Start gathering your belongings. We move in half an hour. And most of you should thank this young man, here," he said, gesturing to me. I gulped and turned red. "Without this trainer's warning, most of you would have been caught in the storm and we would not have arrived until later to aid you in locating this tunnel. Chances are some of you might not have been so lucky as to make it to safety."

There was a short applause which made me grow redder, and Sheila giggled while elbowing me in the side. Chris gave me a pat on the back as well, knowing that I was uncomfortable. Luckily, the moment ended quickly and everyone started gathering their belongings. Volker turned to me and said, "So how about you? Are you going to join us?"

"Thank you, sir, but I think I will find my own way," I replied.

"Ha! I knew you would say that. God speed, son!" Leader Craul said as he slapped me on the back.

"Indeed. I had a similar feeling," said the Champion.

"What's this about you ALWAYS speaking only for yourself, huh? Sir, we will be finding our own way," Sheila exclaimed. "You aren't getting rid of us THAT easily," she laughed. "Right, Chris?"

She looked at Chris who looked to be lost in contemplation. He looked up upon hearing her and said, "Huh? Oh. Well… I kinda want to get out of this mountain to be honest. It seems that going with them would be the quickest way out," he said nervously.

"Whaaa?" exclaimed Sheila. "You can't be serious, Chris! We've had tough times getting to this point but we have to all stay together. That's why we can call ourselves a team! You can't leave now. We are heading out anyway, right?"

I felt something inside me give, and I said to Chris, "Look, do what you want, ok?" Sheila turned to me with a look of shock and alarm. "Only you know what is best for you and your pokemon. Mt. Moon has been here as a milestone for trainers since the League began. If you want to take the easy way out, go ahead. I won't stop you, but don't be surprised when I don't sympathize with you."

"H-hey, I didn't mean I wanted to quit. We've just been here so long and we should have been through already and-"

"If you have learned anything from traveling with me, it is that I do NOT take the easy way out. Quitting, cutting corners, and being lazy lead to complacency. Complacency leads you to settle for mediocrity. I have no desire to travel with someone who is ok with being mediocre," I said back sternly.

Chris' face hardened and he said quietly, "I am not mediocre."

"That remains to be seen," I said. "So what will it be, Chris? Will you take the easy way out? Or will you stick with us to the end? You can go on your own way once we reach Cerulean, but you started something with us and you should finish it." Azrael growled behind me.

Chris' frown intensified and he exclaimed, "I'm staying, ok?" before falling silent.

I smiled and met Sheila's gaze. She had a baffled look mixed with relief, but she said nothing. Volker laughed and said, "There really is something special about you, kid! Keep it up and one day I might see you in the ring!"

With that, Volker walked over to Caesar and returned him after patting him on the side. He then released his Xatu who bowed slightly to him. Volker looked over to me and gave a wink before he and his psychic bird disappeared with a sharp pop!

"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE FROM HERE TO THE BACK COME WITH ME!" bellowed Aoro. He stood in the middle of the crowd and started ushering people along. "Do NOT fall behind or else Crusher might see you as wounded prey!" That spurred people on quickly, but a few people chose to stop by and thank me personally.

After about ten minutes, Katherine yelled, "Everyone else, let's go!" and proceeded down into the depths of the tunnels. More people passed by and thanked me, Sheila, and Chris. I even saw Amanda pass by and flash me a smile. As the crowd of people disappeared, I was acutely aware of the change in lighting. After they had disappeared into the blackness of the tunnels, there were a few trainers left behind, aside from Sheila, Chris, and I.

I released Gilles to accompany Azrael and Rufus, and more pokemon began being released by various trainers after they saw me release my pokemon. The tunnel was then lit once again by the many flashing lights coming from various pokemon. Kara was flashing light next to Sheila and Jade was lighting up the area around Chris.

"Hmm. Well let's make camp for the night. I don't want to accidentally catch up to the group," I said to my teammates. "Plus, I'm tired. We've been running all night and I need to rest."

"No kidding!" sighed Sheila as she sat down next to the smoldering fire. The amount of combustible material we had was limited, and there were few materials inside the mountain which could be used for fuel. Chris sat down on the other side of fire and remained quiet. I let him brood. It was his decision to stay or to go. I never told him he had to come with us and he knew damn well by now how I trained.

Sheila, however, moved over to him and started comforting him. You are too nice, Sheila, I thought to myself. I looked at Rufus and Gilles and said, "You two did an amazing job tonight. Rufus, you really pulled through." He responded with a long, drawn out yawn and a wag of his short tail. "Azrael, I'm sure you could have helped as well, but I know how much you hate the ice and snow." He snorted and yawned as well. Gilles proceeded to float around, throwing rocks occasionally, and I had to tell not to mess with any of the other trainers.

Some of the remaining trainers left, while others, some of whom I recognized from running beside us all night, followed our example and set up camp. That night, for some reason, I slept better than usual. In spite of the hard dirt and rock ground under my side, I still laid my head against my best friend and the darkness of the tunnel put my mind at ease, allowing me to sleep soundly.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Sometime later, I was roused from my slumber by the sounds of shuffling and light playing on the backs of my eyelids. Trainers were moving on into the caverns and I noticed Chris and Sheila stirring as well. The trainers gave us as wide a berth as possible in the tunnel, probably due in part to Azrael, who gave a low growl whenever they came too close. And whenever he growled, the rumbling in his stomach would cause my head, which lay against it, to vibrate as well.

Sheila woke with a start and said grumpily, "Azrael, you need to be nicer. People will like you more." Azrael gave a snort in reply and ignored her. I checked my watch; it was almost noon but the entire entrance of the tunnel was blocked by snow, rendering the passage completely dark. Well, it would have been so if not for the glow of the trained pokemon and flashlights.

"Ugh, I guess we should probably get going too," I said as I rose from on top of Azrael. I looked around in the dim tunnel for my backpack and found a protein bar with little trouble. Sheila grumbled and rose from her sleeping bag, and Chris wordlessly shifted out of his bag.

The darkness was regarded differently by those in my group. Azrael, Gilles, and Rufus were comfortable in the dark. Chris, his Zoroark, Psyduck, and Ariados seemed fine with the dark, as well, but Sheila and most of her pokemon were not.

"Ugh! Larry can you light this place up? I can't see a darn thing!" raged Sheila as she shuffled around. I raised an eyebrow at her. It was dark but the light from the other pokemon groups, though far away, was bright enough for me to see in our camp. Larry's tail lit up and I had to close my eyes because of the sudden influx of light. But after a few seconds I was fine, and we began packing up our camp.

We were neither the first, nor the last trainers to leave. Some stayed back and continued to sleep or converse while we followed the tunnel into the mountain. Azrael walked beside me and, when the path rarely became too narrow for us to walk side-by-side, he made the path larger by digging out the walls. He did not have to do that often, because for hundreds of years, trainers had made their way through the mountain and had cleared away much of the direct route; enough for pokemon to walk comfortably with their trainers.

I was delighted when, after digging through a section of the tunnel wall, Azrael emerged with a stone in his mouth that gave off a faint yellow glow. After he dropped it at my feet, I picked it up and noticed how my hair started to stand on end. "Oooh, that's a thunderstone!" exclaimed Sheila. "My dad doesn't get too many of those but I recognize it. You're lucky!" she said without hiding her jealousy.

I stored it and began to think about for what purpose I could possibly use it. For the moment, I did not have any electric pokemon, so my options were limited and I would just have to find a use for it later.

Sheila, Chris, and I all traveled through the cave with our pokemon outside of their balls. At some points, we had to travel in a long line because there was not enough room for us to spread out. Until we reached large cavernous expanses, where we had enough room to spread out, we resembled a human-pokemon Onix.

During the first couple of days, encounters were sparse and yielded meager amounts of food for our group. Afterwards, pokemon became easier to find. Whether that was because the pokemon were returning to their lairs after being scared out by the enormous crowds, or because we had simply gone a different route, we were able to find food relatively easily.

Our hike through the caverns, reminiscent of our first several weeks in Mt. Moon, was dark and difficult. Large groups of Zubat with an occasional Golbat were common, though we never came across another flying monstrosity, thankfully. Ground and rock pokemon were also common to stumble upon, but they were somewhat easier to deal with due to our type-advantaged team.

Beyond pokemon, we ran into other trainers in large caverns. While the majority simply said hello and continued on their way, we had our fair share of challenges. Since we were a group of three, we had to split the challenges between ourselves so that we all could gain battling experience. Most trainers did not care, though, and humored our decision for the battler. I never lost a battle and neither did Sheila, but Chris lost a battle to a kid with an exceptionally strong Electabuzz.

Outside of the caverns and tunnels, we were met with large valleys and passes barred by vast amounts of snow. In order to expend as little energy as possible, Azrael burrowed under the snow and searched for the next mountain entrance before he and Rufus melted enough of the snow to make a path, though Rufus had trouble with the ensuing water drainage. It was up to Azrael to dig, for he had attempted to teach Jade and Rey the technique to dig quickly, but their types were too different from ground type to learn it by observation. If they ever wanted to learn how to dig effectively, they would need a T.M.

It was during the several hours each time Azrael went searching for the next entrance that we trained and rested. Chris and I wrestled in preparation for the Fighting Dojo while Rufus and Gilles played shadow chicken, which is an offshoot of the batting drill where Gilles sent a shadow ball at Rufus who manipulated the darkness around the ball to send it back at Gilles. Gilles would then manipulate the ball, sending it back at Rufus, and so on and so forth, until one of them could not stop it and was hit.

Over time with the drill, the shadow ball would travel faster because each pokemon would add some force to it through their manipulation. This drill built their non-physical attack prowess, their non-physical toughness, and their speed. When we were not moving, and Azrael was not searching through a snowed-in valley, he would join the shadow-batting exercises or participate in drills consisting of scratching the walls.

During those times, Chris started to implement his own training drills which utilized his own pokemons' abilities. Pierce practiced making illusions from the environment in which Rey and Jade had to either resist or go along with. Those in which they had to participate had different sets of objectives such as dodging imaginary projectiles or racing to imaginary checkpoints.

Sheila had Kara throwing spores as far as the little flower could. She had Larry practicing his accuracy with lighting by zapping rocks which Shade telekinetically threw at him. She also had Lady punching rocks to make her attacks stronger.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

During our two and a half-week travel through the remainder of Mt. Moon, there were only two incidents worth noting. The first was both glorious and mystifying.

We had found ourselves in a large cavern and our light had caught the attention of a trainer. We heard a rough voice say, "Well lookie here," as a large and sturdily-built man stepped out from behind a stalagmite formation. Our pokemon formed a mass of monsters around us but the man did not seem to care.

"I've wanted to test my pokemon against someone for a while now," he said, looking at me. "Haven't seen hardly anyone since I entered this tunnel, and this tunnel goes a long way, kid."

I nodded and said, "Alright, then. I'll take your challenge." Sheila and Chris gave us a wide berth, which left us in dim lighting. Azrael lay in wait under the ground, Gilles was invisible somewhere nearby, and Rufus stood at the ready by my side.

"Onix, GO!" yelled the burly man. The ground rumbled and a large rocky snake emerged from the ground and curled up in front of him. It nearly touched the ceiling as it loomed above me, peering down in a menacing and aggressive manner.

I stomped and slid my foot forward, sideways. A second later, the ground swelled and the Onix was thrown to the wall, crashing into it and collapsing the ceiling adjacent to it. The Onix was stunned for a second but quickly recovered. It burrowed into the wall by command of its trainer.

"Sandstorm, Azrael," I ordered and he kicked up a whirling vortex of dirt, immediately reaching out ten feet from him. As it continued to grow in size, Azrael was flung from the epicenter and sent crashing into another wall by the Onix exploding from underneath him. The Onix was big enough and the sandstorm was weak enough that Azrael could not effectively hide from the Onix's attacks.

I was not worried, however. Well, for Azrael, that is. As the Onix landed a solid hit and was starting to fling rocks at him, Azrael's lip curled and he let out a bellow that rattled our bones before projecting a jet of flames at the Onix. The Onix shielded itself by curling up and when it unfurled, Azrael was already on top of it. He had sprinted quickly after his attack and drove his deadly claw into the Onix's jaw, creating a gash through the bottom half of its mouth.

The Onix screeched in pain, sending heavy drops of blood flying in all directions, and forcing me to clamp my hands over my ears. I slid my foot forward sideways, and the screeching stopped when a wall of dirt sandwiched the Onix into the cavern wall. The Onix passed out and Azrael needed to calm down, as the angry rumbling in his voice revealed, so both pokemon were returned. The hiker then released a Geodude.

"Gilles, put it to sleep and then pound it into the ground," I said with a grin. My ghost materialized in front of the rock pokemon as a large face with black and white spiraling eyes, forcing the Geodude into an artificially induced slumber. The Geodude awoke to the pain of its face being pummeled over and over again by a shadowy fist. When its eyes opened and it let out a screech, Gilles fell back and started sending shadow balls crashing into it.

The Geodude managed to fling some mud at Gilles, causing a small amount of damage, but it was put down before it could deal any significant amount of damage. A second Geodude was then released and I ordered Gilles to repeat the process. He was very adept at putting other pokemon to sleep; especially dumb rock pokemon. However, Gilles managed to sustain another couple hits from mud and rock.

When the hiker pulled out another ball, I returned Gilles and looked down at Rufus whose tail started wagging immediately after my gaze fell upon him. "You're next, Rufus." He barked joyfully and bounded in front of me, where he waited, poised. The hiker was bathed in dim light but I could make out a smile.

He released a pokemon that resembled a crab whose body was a large mushroom; a four foot-tall mushroom, to be exact. Its two-foot-long pincers snapped menacingly as it appeared, and I immediately recognized it. It was a Parasect and they were known to have very potent poisons. Its bug type was strong against Rufus' dark type but Rufus' fire type was strong against the Parasect's bug and grass types.

The hiker immediately opened up with an order for the Parasect to release paralyzing spores. Rufus fought through them as I ordered him to release a cloud of smog, and I silently thanked Sheila and Kara for helping my pokemon develop a resistance to the spores. I made a mental note to audibly thank them later.

The cloud of smog blocked the light coming into the area and left the two battling pokemon, as well as their trainers, in a dark, stiflingly hot cloud. My eyes watered but I noted how I could still see Rufus through the blackness, though I could only see his outline and obvious features. I yelled through the smoke, "Flamethrower!" and the area lit up with hot dancing flames. The tendrils of flame coalesced into one focal point: the center of Parasect's mass. The creature chittered painfully as the flames died out, and the smell of burning foliage assaulted my nostrils.

In the darkness of the smog, I saw the creature fall limp. The darkness around them then enveloped Rufus. It looked as if the smog was swirling into him, hiding him completely from view before he emerged from the depths of the blackness, two feet taller. In place of his skull plate, he had a pair of horns protruding from his head which curled backwards. He had an extra white ridge across his back and now two white bands on each ankle. His tail had elongated and grown a triangular arrow-head tip at the end, and he had a white band around his neck which held a skull-shaped bone at his throat.

Rufus' head now came up to my chin and he emerged from the shadows with his eyes burning like small fiery pieces of coal. "Rufus! I'm so proud of you! You look so STRONG now!" I praised him. His tail began to slightly wave back and forth, as he was no doubt confused with his new form. I walked through the smog, placing and holding my hand between the two front ridges on his back, towards the hacking hiker.

"Good battle!" I said to him as a tried to clear my throat of the smog.

"Yeah, yeah. You win," he said, coughing, and handed me a wad of cash before hurrying away. I approached my two teammates, though I went around the smog this time. I received two startled exclamations as my newly evolved Houndoom accompanied me into their light.

Proud is one way to put how I felt toward my pokemon, though I would consider that a substantial understatement. Azrael's power was second to none, in my eyes, Gilles was shaping up to be a "non-physical attack" powerhouse, and Rufus had already reached his final evolutionary stage, which was a popular breed of pokemon seen in the big leagues. My team was already shaping up to be more-than-formidable.

That "night," to the cumulative chagrin of our party, I found Rufus peeing on Sheila's and Chris' tents. He also portrayed signs of aggressive alpha behavior. These signs included protectiveness over his own food and, ironically, Azrael and Gilles. It was quite touching to see a hound growling at potential threats to a dragon three times his size, though Azrael did not seem to share the sentiment. Despite his new troublesome demeanor, I was grateful for and proud of my pokemon's achievement.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The second incident happened as we were approaching an exit from the caverns. The snow that had piled just outside the exit had a hole near the top of the opening that looked as if the bat pokemon had forced their way through. The ceiling on the incline towards the exit had a beautiful array of icicles; some bigger than my body.

We were trudging towards the wall of snow when we found ourselves fighting a multitude of airborne adversaries. It was late in the day so it came as no surprise, in hindsight, that a large swarm of Zubat and a couple Golbat surged from the depths of the caves towards the exit.

The cloud of Zubat swarmed towards the opening and found us in its path. We tried to evade them by moving to the side but many of them decided to attack us. The air was bathed in fire as Azrael and Rufus let out jets of flame. Some still managed to get past the fire and met with the claws and teeth of our other pokemon, and my knife.

The commotion lasted for several minutes, leaving many dead Zubat smoldering or twitching on the ground around us. To our surprise, the activity had loosened an area of the ceiling where icicles were hanging, and a large portion of them started to fall.

As we watched the falling spikes in slowed horror, our pokemon took action. Rey and Shade combined their strength to create a telekinetic barrier between our heads and the sheet of falling, deadly spears. The sheet crashed into the barrier and was engulfed in fire. The icicles melted quickly and rained cold water down upon our heads. Gilles was blasting chunks away with shadow balls, Pierce was doing the same, and Lady was crashing her armored fists in to small sections of the ice, shattering them.

The weight of the ice must have been substantial because Rey and Shade were straining. I looked to the Chris and Sheila and yelled, "Return your pokemon, except for Rey and Shade!" They gave me perplexed and frightened looks but followed my lead when I returned Azrael, Rufus, and Gilles. "Get out from underneath it! It won't hold for long!" I yelled.

We made our way down the path underneath the sheet of ice. I was behind Sheila and Chris, physically pushing them forward. When we were about five feet from the edge of the sheet, we heard a cry from behind us and we looked back in horror as Shade collapsed from the strain. The ice above us buckled and fell.

At that moment, as Shade hit the ground, she burst into white light and the ice came to a halt. We rushed to the edge and dived out from underneath the ice. Immediately Shade and Rey were returned and the ice crashed to the floor.

After a few minutes passed, in which we all sat heaving in relief, we released our pokemon. Sheila's newly evolved Kirlia now stood in front of us, breathing heavily.

She was now three feet tall, had two red horns running through her green, dense hair, and looked to be wearing a white tutu. Her slender legs protruded underneath and wicked red eyes shown from the gaps in her hair. Sheila had tears running down her face; ones that had started in terrified sadness, and ended in joyful pride and relief. Chris was visibly shaken as well, holding Rey in a death grip that had his little Psyduck quacking for air.

We spent a few minutes with our pokemon in grateful silence until we were ready to move on. When we finally decided to continue, we had to melt the floor because it was too slick and jagged to cross. When we came to the wall of snow at the exit, we rested while Azrael set off underground to search for the next cave entrance.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

When we emerged from the final exit of Mt. Moon, we all let out a cry of relief. One piece of evidence that clued us into the fact that it was, indeed, the final exit was the lack of a wall of snow barring us from the outside world. Instead, we faced a one-foot-high layer of snow. Another clue was the slope of the mountain in front of us. There were no mountains rising to meet us in the distance. Instead, all that lay ahead was a rolling downward slope filled with pine trees and sunlight, and no perpetual wall of snow blocking our view of the environment.

We immediately made camp to celebrate the end of our passage through Mt. Moon. We made a fire with the help of Rufus, since Rufus had not given Azrael the chance to help with lighting a fire since Rufus had evolved. However, Azrael did help us gather firewood by felling a small tree and tearing it to pieces with his sharp claws.

That night we gathered around the fire, laughing and joking. We feasted on the Zubat jerky we had made from the never-ending flow of Zubat in Mt. Moon who all seemed to have a cumulative death wish, and drank melted snow.

That night, for the first time since catching Rufus, I needed to assert my control over him. I initially scolded Rufus for peeing on Chris' tent, though he immediately peed on Sheila's tent after I finished. I had had it with Rufus's behavior. I walked over to Rufus who was apathetically marking Sheila's tent, and, with a burst of strength, jerked him back and threw him off of his feet. With a surprised yelp, he fell backwards under my hand, and his back hit the ground. I held him on his back with my hand on his neck and my other hand under his sternum.

"This will stop, NOW," I said, baring my teeth at Rufus and staring him in the eyes. He struggled slightly and found no give, and I felt his skin heating up. I held him there until he stopped squirming, and then for another minute. "You do not get to piss on anything to establish dominance or territory unless I tell you that it's okay. Is that clear?" I asked rhetorically, and he did not move.

Eventually I released him and stood up. He rose slowly with his tail between his legs and followed me back to where I was sitting. I sat down in front of Sheila, who wore a bewildered look on her face, and Chris, who was chuckling.

"You can be downright scary sometimes. But effective," he laughed.

"Or cruel, maybe," said Sheila, looking at Rufus with pity.

"I didn't hurt him," I said back. "He knows what he's doing isn't acceptable and he needed to be reminded of who's in charge here." I looked at Rufus who had curled up beside me with his ears pinned back against his head and rubbed the back of his neck, eliciting a slight grumble. Azrael snorted with amusement and Gilles cackled above me, no doubt taunting Rufus.

Gilles was rewarded with a small line of fire being shot at him. He took the hit and continued to chortle while doing barrel rolls in the air. We all giggled at this show and Sheila observed with a laugh, "Maybe you're right this time. He just looks like he's pouting, now, hehe." Rufus let out a whiny groan and we all laughed again.

That night, I lay in my tent, curled up with Rufus and Azrael. Amidst the quiet trance of the serene mountainside, I dreamt of Raeda's screams. I was forced to sit and watch her being eaten by the monstrous Golbat. Midway through the nightmare, a familiar pair of large eyes and a grinning maw intersected my line of vision and somehow blocked the screams from my hearing. A little while later, I woke up with a tear rolling down my cheek and saw Gilles' shadowy mass condensed beside me. I thanked him and went back to sleep.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The morning came and we started our downward descent towards what we believed to be Route 4. My feet were cold, despite being double-wrapped with socks and clad in heavy hiking boots. I checked my PokeDex and found the temperature to be 4˚F. I shivered and we moved on.

It is funny how much I had come to miss meals of Pidgey, Spearow, and Rattata. After spending so long in Mt. Moon, eating nothing but Zubat, the local wildlife had lost their flavor. I had never been so happy to cook a Buneary in my life. The sun and foliage seemed to have a benign influence on my teammates, as well.

Sheila's smile had never been so bright. It shone on her face whenever she looked at Kara who seemed to be enjoying the sun immensely, and she never looked happier as she played in the sunlight with her pokemon. Chris, likewise, had begun to talk more and more. He was back to his old chatty self whom I knew when we first met.

My pokemon – even Gilles – seemed to enjoy being outside of the cave, but perhaps for different reasons. Azrael soaked in the sunlight with his black scales, Rufus ran around in the wide open terrain, and Gilles, though he stuck to the shadows of the trees, seemed to expand his cloud and laugh more often.

I called my parents to notify them that I had finally exited the mountain, and they were relieved to hear so. I had only had a few opportunities to call them in the past few weeks, since the only time I had cell service was in the snowed-out valleys. After the first time I called them, they were in a panic, worrying that I had been caught in the blizzard, but I had assured them that I was fine. They had also heard about the mystery trainer who alerted the rangers about the storm, and I told them it was me. They were astounded and asked how I knew about the storm, so I told them that I caught an Absol and they became quiet. They knew the sayings about Absol. In the end, I told them that I was alright and that I was heading to Cerulean City, which gave them some comfort.

Our second night on the downward slope came after a day of outdoor training – our favorite kind because of the open terrain and the forest environment. I took advantage of the shift in training atmosphere, and, as a result, we did not make a lot of progress down the slope.

As we sat around the campfire that night, Chris spoke up, "So I was thinking… Can we possibly pick up our pace towards Cerulean? I kinda want to get there as soon as possible."

We sat in silence for a little bit. I am not sure what Sheila was thinking but I was slightly annoyed that he might be trying to rush us forward for the sake of speed or because he was trying to take the easy way out again. "Why do you want to get there so quickly? It will still be there regardless of how long it takes us to reach it."

"Please don't misunderstand. It's not that I want to quit. It's just… The date is December 14th and I'm turning sixteen years old on the 19th. I kinda wanted to be in the city to celebrate. You know, have my first beer?"

I was taken aback. Never once since we had been traveling together had I even asked my companions' ages. Sheila answered first, "Of course we can pick up the pace, right?" looking at me. "I'm sure our pokemon are fit for the Cerulean gym anyway. It wouldn't hurt to get there a little earlier, for the sake of your birthday, Chris."

"Okay. We will pick up the pace for you, Chris," I said. "But I'm not sure if we will get there on time for your birthday… I'm not sure where Route 4 is, yet. I mean, the plan for me was to just head down the mountainside until we reached some sort of marker or sign. That being said, we can still cut the training sessions short and try to get to Cerulean ASAP."

Sheila smiled at me and then at Chris. "So it's decided! Why didn't you tell us earlier, Chris?"

"Well… I was afraid of mentioning it before we actually left the mountain, since we didn't know how long it would take," he replied sheepishly.

"Well even though I don't know either of your birthdays," I said. "They are special and I will respect them. And just so that there is no confusion in the future, we now know that Chris will be turning sixteen on December 19th. I'll be turning eighteen on August 20th of next year. Sheila?"

"I'll be seventeen next year on April 5th… I was a bit old for my class," Sheila said with a hint of embarrassment. "And by the way, I wouldn't go for beer if I were you. It's gross. I like mixed drinks; something with a bite!"

"I don't know… My dad loves beer. What do you think?" he asked me.

"To be honest, I've never had alcohol," I said, reminiscing about my mother's problem with a scowl.

"Really?" asked Chris. "You've legally been able to drink for over a year and you haven't had one?"

"It's for reasons I don't really feel comfortable talking about," I said nervously.

"Oh… Sorry then. I hope you don't look down on me for wanting to get a drink on my birthday… I won't push you to drink," said Chris, trying to recover.

"It's no problem. I know why people our age want to. I won't hold it against you. Just don't overdo it." I said. I looked to Sheila and saw her staring at me with a peculiar expression. Pity? Understanding? Jealousy? I could not place it so I just asked, "What?"

Her expression changed back to normal and she said simply, "Nothing." I was confused, but then again, it was not the first time she made me feel that way, so I just dismissed it. "Well I'll have a couple drinks with you, Chris. He can have a Moomoo Milk," she said, pointing at me and giggling.

"Ha ha," I said sarcastically and continued to eat. It was a fairly cheerful night, despite my recollection of my mother's drinking problem. The next morning, I held a short cardio/ endurance session with sprints to get our blood running before we continued down the mountain side. Amazingly, we reached the "bottom" of the slope near the end of the day and came upon a small cottage.

Sheila went to knock on the door in order to procure directions to Route 4, and instead wound up getting our group invited to dinner and lodging for the night. The only compensation the little old lady wanted from us was tales of our journey, but only once her husband arrived. It was late so we decided to accept her invitation, but I stayed outside in order to spend time with my pokemon. After all, Azrael could not fit inside her house easily, and Gilles would no doubt scare her.

Sheila stayed inside with the lady and helped her make dinner while Chris yammered on about everything and nothing. Soon, Azrael perked up and lifted his lip, facing away from the house. I followed his gaze and saw a large, six foot-tall Camerupt making its way towards us. The red furred camel, whose two humps resembled small volcanoes, was towing a bundle of logs as big as I, and was being led by an older man with a short white beard.

When the man saw Azrael's defensive snarl, he flinched and stopped. I quickly intervened and said, "My apologies, sir, we were just lounging outside. Your wife invited us for dinner." He nodded and approached, though he and his Camerupt were eyeing Azrael warily. I looked up to Azrael and said, "It's alright. Let's help him. Get a little strength training in for today?" Azrael stomped once with a huff and we walked over to the man.

"Let us help you with those logs, sir. It is the least we can do for your family's hospitality," I said to him. He gave a hearty smile and accepted, allowing me to tie some of the logs onto Azrael's back. We helped take them over to a wood chopping platform before I realized he was going to manually chop them up.

I put a hand out and said to him, "Here, let Azrael do that for you. He could use some exercise and he would get the job done much faster than by hand."

The man smiled again and said, "You are awfully helpful, young man. Thank you very much for your assistance, although I wouldn't have minded the labor; relaxes the mind, yeah?" He watched Azrael slash through the logs with ease, and said, "That is quite a dragon you got, there. And such a terrifying name. I'm amazed you were able to tame him."

"It wasn't easy, though I wouldn't consider him tame. He's the most powerful friend I've had the pleasure of training with," I replied, looking at Azrael with admiration.

"Fair enough. You'll have to tell me how you were able to train him, over dinner. I insist," he said. I agreed and we stayed outside until the wood was all split. I even helped Azrael by picking up an axe and cutting some of the logs. After we finished, we headed inside where dinner was waiting for us.

Our meal was delicious – Pidgey stew with vegetables – and our conversation was hearty. I told the old couple, James and Miriam, how I came to catch Azrael, and they were very impressed. After dinner, the conversation moved to the front of their fireplace. The old couple was rocking on separate chairs and we were sitting on the floor atop pillows. We were given them and blankets upon which to sleep and permission to keep one pokemon inside with us, as long as they did not break anything.

I had Rufus with me, Chris had Pierce, and Sheila had Kara. Azrael wanted to stay out, even if he had to be outside in the cold, so I obliged him, but Gilles preferred to stay in his pokeball, away from the cold. In the morning, we awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs, and my appetite rejoiced. The meal was delicious and allowed us to start our day in good spirits.

We thanked the old couple, who gave us directions to Route 4, and started packing our things. As I was almost finished, James approached me and said, "My wife and I are grateful for your company and good spirits. I also appreciate your help in chopping firewood. I found your story to be truly moving and inspirational, young man. You treat your pokemon well, but you do not allow them to become lazy. I would like to thank you in my own way."

He held out a pokeball and I was taken aback. "I'm sorry sir, I couldn't possibly accept."

"Look at this more as a gift to your family for raising such a well-mannered and mature son. I think it's terrible that your father lost his business so suddenly, so if you do not want to train this pokemon, you can give it to him. Perhaps a fire trainer such as him would possess the know-how to raise him correctly," he said, smiling brightly.

I recoiled inwardly at the irony but said, "I truly do appreciate your generosity, sir. But I really couldn't accept your Camerupt. He is your only help around here, correct?"

"Oho no, boy! This is not old Merry; this is her egg! I just don't know if my wife and I can take care of a young Numel. I discussed it with old Merry and she was alright with the decision. This is my way of thanking you, and I would beseech you to allow me the joy of giving you this gift, so please accept it," said James.

I relented and with an inward sigh and said, "Thank you sir, I really appreciate it. I will do my best to make sure this Numel is given the best treatment," I allowed him to place the ball in my hand and I opened the panel to see the egg being displayed. Red letters flowing across read "Release Egg to Incubate." I then formulated a plan and stored the ball safely in my pack.

Many thanks were given on behalf of both the old couple and our group before we finally headed out. We traveled fast, trying to make as much progress towards Cerulean City as possible.

"You are one lucky duck, you know?" Sheila said to me with a hint of jealousy. She was wearing a new necklace that I had not seen her wear before we spent the night at James' and Miriam's house.

"Perhaps. But I also believe in a level of Karma," I retorted.

"Are you going to raise the Numel for your team?" asked Chris.

"Actually, no. I already have a fire type and a ground type so I would rather look for other types of pokemon to round out my team," I said matter-of-factly.

"You aren't going to sell him, are you?" gasped Sheila.

"Of course not," I said unemotionally. Sheila visibly sighed with relief. "If I didn't know what I wanted to do with it, I would probably offer it to one of you two. However, I do know what I want to do with the egg," I said with a smile.

"What's that?" asked Chris.

"I will give it to my father. He has years and years of experience in raising fire pokemon. Even if they were stallions, they were still fire pokemon. He might consider opening a new business if I give him enough of a start," I said.

"That's really nice of you," said Sheila, her bright smile spreading across her face.

"I just hope he lets me give it to him," I joked, though inwardly I was actually nervous that he might not accept.

We traveled at a brisk pace for three days. We were still on the road on the morning of the 19th, but the route was becoming much more populous, indicating our growing proximity to Cerulean. Sheila woke us all up with a bellowing tune of "Happy birthday to you," accompanied by Larry's braying, Lady's buzzing and screeching, and Kara's and Shade's dancing. It almost backfired when Azrael awoke grumpily, snarled at them, and allowed blue flames to dance off of his tongue, but I calmed him down before he released the fire at them.

Chris was appreciative, all the same. I looked to him and said, "We will get you to Cerulean before tonight, I promise." He smiled and we all packed to begin our day's travel to Cerulean. Sheila skipped much of the way and we returned our slower pokemon so that we could travel as fast as possible. All of my pokemon stayed outside of their balls, I allowed Kara to ride on the back of Rufus, though it was uncomfortably hot for her, and Chris returned Jade and Rey. That day, we took breaks only to use the restroom and to eat.

The sun started sinking below the horizon at about 7:00 but we could see the lights of the city in the distance. Two hours later, we trudged through the snow into the city's limit, forcing us to return our pokemon. We made our way quickly to the closest Pokemon Center and admitted our pokemon to the medical desk. We relaxed for a little while, showered up and waited for our clothes to wash while we ate a hot meal and planned the night.

"It's now 11:00. By the time our clothes are done, it will be midnight, which, if Kanto is anything like Hoenn, gives us three hours to go to a bar or club," said Sheila thoughtfully. Do you want to go to a bar or do you want to go dancing?" she asked Chris.

"I don't really want to dance… So, a bar?" he said hesitantly.

"Fine then. You're no fun," said Sheila, pouting.

"I don't know anywhere to go in Cerulean, to be honest," I said.

"It's not too hard to find out. Let's just go around and ask!" said Sheila enthusiastically.

Chris and I were swept up in Sheila's dramatic and enthusiastic search for a good bar. Her zeal led us to multiple trainers and PokeCenter employees who gave us a range of bars to choose from, but the majority said that a bar called The Drunken Drowzee was the best value. We learned that it was about a half-an-hour metro ride to the bar so we agreed to go there. While we waited, we registered to compete at the Cerulean gym through our PokeDexes. Our appointments were in four days' time, which came as a shock to me considering how far ahead of us the other trainers were.

After our clothes came back clean, we dressed and left the PokeCenter around midnight. We reached The Drunken Drowzee before 1:00 and I observed that it was full of both trainers and city-people alike. I immediately noted how drunk many of them were, which was obvious from the amount of stumbling around and slurred sentences they exuded.

"Let's get a table, shall we?" suggested Sheila. She led us around, searching for a table amidst the boisterous drunks and some country-sounding song. When she could not find one, she found a staircase and led us up to the second floor. There were a few empty tables and a much smaller crowd, which I was grateful for. We sat down and immediately a blonde woman in her twenties showed up with a couple drink menus.

"I'll take a Margarita to start and Chris will have an Amaretto Sour. It's his birthday!" she said excitedly. Chris simply sat back and let her order for him. The waitress looked to me and I ordered a glass of ice-water. She returned a little later with a large margarita glass and a rock's glass filled with a brown liquid. "CHEERS!" exclaimed Sheila. "Happy birthday, Chris, and good luck at the Cerulean Gym!" They took drinks of their beverages and they both seemed to like them.

"Oh! You are trainers?" the waitress asked. We nodded and she continued, "How long have you been waiting for your matches? I know many trainers have had to wait a week or more."

"We just got here," said Chris.

"Why have people been having to wait so long?" I asked.

"Oh, well I heard from some angry customers that when Katherine left to help the trainers in Mt. Moon, someone sabotaged the heating units in her gym pools and they froze over. They had to wait while the heating units were replaced. That backed up the appointments a week or so, so people had to wait," she explained.

"That's weird," said Sheila. "Why would someone do that?"

"They haven't found a culprit or a reason, from what I understand. It's baffled the gym leader and the police, but there isn't much they can do," she said.

"Well, thank you for the info. In the meantime, we have a birthday to celebrate!" said Sheila, switching the conversation back to the celebration at hand, and then she ordered Chris to down his drink as fast as he could. "Now you can have a beer. Order away!" she said after they finished.

He ordered some domestic stout and Sheila ordered a rum/soda. I ordered another water, choosing not to drink. Someone had to get them back to the PokeCenter safe. At least, that was my excuse. Sheila saw right through it and asked again why I did not drink.

"It makes people stupid, self-pitying, and helps them escape from their responsibilities, regardless of how important those responsibilities are," I said self-righteously.

"Oh no. Only if they overdo it and drink for the wrong reasons," said Sheila, curling her bottom lip out. "If you drink to have fun and because you like the taste of what you drink, I don't see a problem with it."

"Well, I still would rather not," I said, crossing my arms.

"Oh, alright then," she said and ordered a Long Island Iced Tea for herself and a whiskey/soda for Chris.

Chris literally spat out a mouthful of the stout and exclaimed, "Who would drink this? It's so bitter!"

The waitress laughed and said, "How about a lager? Our local brew is not quite as bitter." Chris nodded and she disappeared with the stout. She reappeared soon after with the lager, the whiskey/coke, and the Long Island and said, "Enjoy!"

Chris was able to stomach the lager, but he did not like the mixed whiskey. Sheila downed her Long Island, and by the time she ordered a third drink, her movements were beginning to look lethargic and Chris's words were beginning to slur. "I think this is the last round for them," I said to the waitress, who agreed and brought a check with the next order of drinks.

Chris had ordered a Long Island after seeing Sheila order one and found that he really liked it. Sheila had ordered some tequila shots for herself. At the time, I did not know what any of the drinks were or how potent they were so I was very surprised when Chris puked on the metro ride back to the PokeCenter.

"Oh… I'm… s-so sorry," he struggled to say while Sheila just burst into hysterical laughter. "H-hey now. D-don't laugh at me… Sheeela," he slurred. She continued to laugh while the disturbed bystanders moved away in disgust.

I cursed in frustration and by the time I corralled them to the PokeCenter, it was well past three in the morning. I needed to order glasses of water from the cafeteria to give to both Sheila and Chris, whereupon I laid Sheila down on a bench in the lobby while I took Chris into his room and put him into his bed, setting the water on his bedside table. I figured that Chris was the only one who was sick, so he needed my attention first.

I then moved to Sheila who was nearly passed out on the bench. I picked her up and carried her to her room while she continued to giggle. I opened her door and set her on her bed, pulling the covers back afterwards. She lay back with a smile on her face and said, "I like you guys. You are both awesome!"

"That's great, Sheila. You are awesome too," I said lifting her blanket over her. "Go to bed now. I'm sure you're tired. If you need some water, it's on the table."

"Mhmm," she murmured and passed out.

I left her room, closing the door behind me. I lay down in my own bed, not long after, and thought to myself: They certainly did not become like my mother did. They actually looked like they had fun. That is, until Chris threw up. Maybe Sheila had a point... That tends to happen.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The next morning, I met Sheila out in the lobby. She had a coffee nearby and was holding her head. "Morning!" I said enthusiastically and overdramatically, sitting down beside her. I was wearing a big grin and she responded with a sarcastic glower. "Fine morning, don't you think? I can't wait to go outside and greet the world. How 'bout you?" I said to her, keeping my smile.

"Shut up. Let me deal with my hangover in peace. You are way too happy, you know? It's weird," she said.

"H-hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I said, dumbfounded.

"You know what I mean," she said, "Now leave me alone, jerk."

"Oh alright. Want anything from the cafeteria? I'm going to go get something to eat."

"Some potato fries, if you wouldn't mind. Make sure they're salty," she said, holding her head.

I came back about five minutes later with her fries and an omelet for myself. She gratefully took the fries and started eating them. "Say, where's Chris? Sleeping in is lazy," I said and headed to his room. When I reached his door, I banged on it, yelling, "Get up Chris! It's already noon. Time to get up!"

The door was opened soon after and Chris looked like crap. "Please don't bang on my door. My head is throbbing as it is. It feels like the banging was in my head."

"Awe," I said, giving a pouty look. "Did someone have too much fun last night?" He simply shook his head and shut the door. I returned to the lobby with Sheila to eat my breakfast. There was little conversation during that time.

By the time I finished, she said, "I'm going back to bed." So, I bid her farewell as I decided what to do next. I retrieved the Absol and the egg, and withdrew the Pikachu. I had some bargains to look for, though I was hesitant to part with the Absol.

The first thing I accomplished was to send the egg back to Viridian electronically. I then called my father and said, "Hi, I'm calling to let you know that I'm scheduled to fight at Cerulean in three days' time. I also had something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Thanks for letting me know. And what do you want to talk to me about?"

"I sent you a gift. You should be able to retrieve it at the closest Pokemon Center"

"What kind of gift?"

"I received something as a gift from a nice family after helping them, and I thought it would be perfect if you had it. It is an egg. Inside is a Numel. I'm sure you know what a Numel is?"

"Yeah I do. I don't know, son… What do you expect me to do with it?"

"Well, I thought you might consider raising it. I'm always coming across many different types of pokemon and I had the idea that if ever I caught any fire pokemon, I would send them to you."

"What's the end goal of this?"

"I thought perhaps you could get a business going again. You wouldn't have to work for someone else and you could do what you love doing."

"I don't know… I don't know if I can do that anymore. It's been so long and we don't have the room."

"I'm working on that. I'm thinking that I could possibly get back the land that Uncle Ray built the fence on. If nothing has changed, then the fence is still there and just needs to be fixed and renovated. I realize it's a lot to ask, being that the place has some tainted history, but it's the best thing I can think of. Don't forget, you tried get your business started again afterwards but Blazerunner wouldn't breed."

"Yeah, I remember. I'm going to have to think about it. If you get anymore fire pokemon and want to send them back, then do so. I'll take care of them. That is, unless we start running out of room."

"Alright. If I find any more I will send them to you. With any luck, you can get a fire-type breeder farm going."

"Well I hope you don't feel like you are obligated to do so. I can provide for your mother and myself. But thank you, anyway. Keep in touch."

I then proceeded to look for potential buyers for the Pikachu and the Absol. Ironically enough, I could not find anyone who would even give an offer for Pikachu beyond the Pokemon Traders Guild. I was not willing to part with Pikachu for 2,000Pb, so I held on to him and sent out an electronic flier.

I did receive many offers for the Absol, but none that I was comfortable taking. The highest offer was 40,000Pb, which was an enormous amount, but I still did not want to part with her. I held on to her and kept my options open. I then stopped by the Trainer's Trader and sold the spoils of my hunts before taking a trip to BioTech. Apparently they had been expanding and opened up a store in Cerulean City recently, so I was able to browse their stock of T.M.'s.

I found and bought a move called Dark Pulse for Rufus and looked around for a T.M. that Chris could use, as a birthday gift. Gilles had already taught Pierce to throw shadow balls so I looked for a T.M. for either Jade or Rey. I eventually settled on the T.M. Scald. It is a water move with which a pokemon heats up water and sprays another, sometimes causing harsh burns.

I then returned to my search for a Pikachu buyer. Finding no luck, I returned to the Pokemon Center around 4:00 and found Sheila's and Chris' rooms empty. I called them and found out that Sheila had retreated to a spa and Chris had gone outside of the city to be with his pokemon.

I took my pokemon from the medical checkout counter, headed to where Chris said he was, and found him throwing snowballs at his pokemon. Rey was psychically picking up small balls of snow and throwing them back, and Pierce was poorly making snowballs with his paws. Jade was in a tree, choosing not to participate.

"Hey Chris! How's the fight going?" I asked cheerfully.

He looked over to me with a smile, but before he could answer me, a snowball hit him in the side of the face. He looked back to his pokemon and saw Rey pacing with his arms behind his back. "Oh you! Don't act so innocent. I know you did it, Rey."

The Psyduck hopped and quacked, happily running around and waving his little wings. "Looks like your pokemon have the upper hand," I said, laughing. I let my pokemon out of their balls and said, "Here, I have something for you. Happy birthday." I handed over the T.M.

"Oh, cool! This will be awesome for Rey! Thanks," he exclaimed, giving me a big smile. "But this must have cost quite a lot…"

"Don't worry about it. Just promise me you'll let Rey teach it to one of my pokemon if I ever get a water type," I said cheerfully.

"Agreed," he said, smiling, right before a snowball hit him in the face again.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gabite

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

**Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Kara – Roselia

Larry – Flaaffy

Lady – Ledian

Shade – Kirlia

**Trainer: Christopher Johnson; KA592SA230**

**Pokemon in Possession:**

Pierce – Zoroark

Rey – Psyduck

Jade – Ariados

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note:

Hey everyone. So this chapter took a while to write. Mostly because I've been having to relocate many times, courtesy of a few hectic weeks. It's also getting to be that time of the year when classes start up. As a result, I will not be able to post as often, but never fear; I will deliver.

So, not a _whole_ lot happened in this chapter if you consider depression, anxiety, and cruel-world injustices to be the only things worth reading. If that is the case, then keep reading; I'll find a way to assuage your masochistic desires. Thanks for commenting ralphonso, Jsaint, and jackthehammer, and thank you to those who have continued to comment. I'm sure if I start receiving too many comments, I will just have to give a "thank you to all reviewers" to prevent the author's note from becoming too name-dropping heavy. Lastly, the way I see, this fic is really still beginning, so there will be plenty of time for character development, plot, and grimness. More to come!


	10. Chapter 10: The Price to Pay

Chapter 10

With only two days remaining until my battle, I started developing strategies for fighting water pokemon with my team. Technically, none of my pokemon had a type advantage over water, but that was of no consequence since I had a good sense for battling. Having witnessed a few matches on LeagueWatch, and having gone to the gym for a couple of hours after meeting with Chris, I was confident that we had a very good chance of success.

From what I gathered by watching the matches, Leader Holmes used a large and diverse medley of water pokemon. She only used three for the initial phase of the challenge, and then one more for the second round. It was the first gym to use matched challengers in a second round, for which it was impossible for me to plan.

After deliberating on my choice of participants, I decided that Rufus would join the fight only if certain pokemon were chosen to fight, such as those who had a more dominant non-water type. I would also attempt to use the Pikachu, but before I could, I had work to do.

I released my Pikachu during the few preceding days away from the city and my companions so that I could attempt to befriend him. Befriending him was the first step, for I needed to be able to command him. I also needed to be sure that he would not immediately try to zap anyone who tried to interact with him besides me. It was difficult enough to sell a feral pokemon as it was.

I only needed to showcase the Pikachu's strength in one fight, and what better fight than the gym battle? People from all over would see the fight on LeagueWatch and witness how strong the Pikachu was.

I made the decision to train Pikachu in private to avoid Sheila's righteous fury. I knew she would not approve so I decided that it was easier to ask for forgiveness rather than for permission.

The first couple of times I released the Pikachu resulted in me being electrocuted before I could return him to his ball. Luckily, I was eventually able to subdue the little electric brat by releasing him into Azrael's arms. Azrael took the shocks with little to no problems, and the Pikachu was forced to listen to me for fear of being eaten.

"Alright, little guy. No more shocks, or you will have to deal with Azrael." I said, pain wracking my body from the latest shock. Its ears twitched. "Now, I'm sorry I haven't been taking you out more often, but changing that is the goal of this entire endeavor. You are one strong little guy and I know someone out there will want to train you if you make a good impression. Leader Holmes generally sends out a weak pure-water type pokemon first so you should have no problem dealing with it. After that, I won't make you fight anymore."

Azrael relayed the message in more understandable terms before the Pikachu adopted an resentful pout. He frowned at me and turned his head away. "Look. If you do your best and no one wants to train you, I'll return you to the forest myself." Azrael relayed the message and the Pikachu turned to face me with a look of indignant reluctance in its eyes.

"That's what I like to see. Now, let's practice orders…"

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

On the day before my match, I found myself eating at the Pokemon Center with Sheila and Chris. Right after we finished, I sent a message to Leader Craul to inform him of my upcoming battle. Soon after, I was tracked down and given an interview by a reporter for a local Cerulean news network. After an introduction, the news reporter named Jillian asked me, "How were you able to predict the storm?"

"Well, right before the storm hit, I was hunting for food and came across an Absol," I replied.

"Oooh," Jillian gasped. She looked into the camera and said, "For those of you who don't know, the sighting of Absol has been associated with large catastrophes. They don't actually cause the violent weather, mind you, but they know when the weather is about to take a turn for the worse." She looked back at me and said, "It's a good thing you knew about them, and even better that you came across it in the first place. Now I understand that you and your traveling companions alerted the other trainers in the vicinity as well?"

"Yes, ma'am. He told us what happened and we wasted no time packing up," chimed Sheila.

"Well I think a lot of trainers owe their lives to the bunch of you! And you all plan on competing in the Cerulean gym?"

"Yes, and our matches are tomorrow!" said Chris enthusiastically.

I sighed. I did have a plan for showing Pikachu at the match, but I did not want more publicity than was necessary. Sheila seemed to share a similar opinion because she visibly face-palmed. "Ms. Thomas, thanks for the interview but we have some things to take care of," Sheila said.

Chris looked crestfallen and so did the reporter. "Oh, can't you answer a few more questions? Like what pokemon you have? Or what strategy for catching pokemon you used?"

"It's the day before our matches. I apologize, but we have to practice and prepare for tomorrow," I said quickly.

Ms. Thomas gave an exaggerated frown and sighed before looking back at the camera with a smile and saying, "Well, let's give it up for our little heroes and wish them luck on their battles tomorrow!"

We wasted no time leaving after that, and began preparing.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Once again, I found myself seated on a cushioned chair and listening to the muffled roar of a distant crowd. It rose and fell like the waves of water for which the gym was famous. The commentator's voice boomed through the walls and gave the waiting trainers a sense of suspense.

I was anxious because if I lost this, I was bound by my word to return home. The anxiety only served as a distraction, so I attempted to distract myself by going over different strategies in my mind.

Due to security concerns, we were only allowed to have one pokemon out with us in the waiting area. Unlike in Pewter City, the waiting room was not very large, and Azrael had since evolved to become too big to fit comfortably, so I chose Rufus to accompany me in the waiting room. His relaxed, yet readied presence was enough to keep my mind at relative ease.

I stroked his black fur above the skull-bone at his throat and waited. According to the announcer, not a single trainer had won their challenge. That's what you get for choosing an expedited route at the expense of training, I thought smugly. I looked at the clock, which read 1:45, and then at Chris and Sheila.

Sheila had taken a few hours during the morning to visit a spa in order to make herself look as preened as possible. When she met us at the gym, she was wearing her normal trainer clothes, but her smooth brown hair flowed freely down onto her shoulders. She wore makeup and I could not help but be dazzled when I saw her.

I was dressed up in the sense that I was clean, and so was Chris. His jaw dropped upon seeing Sheila and he told her that she looked amazing. Sheila actually had the bravado to say "I know," before leading us into the gym.

For the most part, I was not worried about the first phase of the challenge because I knew that my pokemon were more than ready. Azrael was level 30, Gilles was level 28, and Rufus was level 26. The standard League pokemon level range for Cerulean City was level 18-20. The only thing I was worried about was the final pokemon, which would be matched to my pokemons' skill levels. The good news was that my pokemon would ideally be in great shape for that fight, since they were so far above the League standard at phase one.

Sheila was smiling at Kara, appearing as if she had no worries in the world. It was not difficult to imagine why, either. Two of her pokemon were strong against water-types, one of which was Kara, her starter and strongest team member.

Chris looked to be a bit more jittery. He was running his nails through Pierce's fur and was subtly shaking. Sheila also noticed this and proceeded to rub his shoulders while giving him advice. Remembering the kid from the Pewter City gym, my mind immediately labeled him as a possible future loss.

Soon after she finished comforting Chris, Sheila was called out to the gym floor after the previous battler was defeated, since she had signed up first and therefore had an earlier match than we. I was scheduled to fight directly after her and Chris was after me. When she left, he reverted back to his disheveled state. He was in the same boat as I; his pokemon were not particularly strong against water-types. However, like me, his pokemon should have been at a higher level than the League standard.

Sitting there listening to the speaker and watching Chris made me realize something. I had been sitting in judgment of Chris in the waiting room when I had stood beside him in support for the last month. Helping him would not be a sign of weakness on my part, and being nervous is not necessarily a sign of incompetence. After all, I was nervous, too, though not so much that I let it consume my thoughts.

I stood up and walked over to Chris and said, "Chris, calm down; go over strategies; talk to your pokemon; do anything except worry."

"Have you heard how many people have lost already?" Chris said, shaking. "I don't think anyone has actually beaten her today. My pokemon don't have any special strength against water types."

"Mine don't either. There have, indeed, been a lot of losses today. But Chris, what sets us apart from most other trainers here?"

He thought for a moment before saying, "We didn't take a guide…"

"Exactly. Mt. Moon is a milestone for the simple reason that it prepares you for the gym challenge, among other things. Katherine Holmes is an exceptionally tough trainer, but we aren't fighting her League team; we are fighting the League challenge standard team. You are ready for it. I shouldn't have to reassure you of your pokemons' strength. Moreover, it is offsetting to your pokemon for them to see their trainer doubting their abilities. Have faith in them and what you, yourself, have trained them to do. You'll find that it is much less stressful."

"Thank you," Chris said as his shoulders sagged in relaxation. I made a mental note to listen to what Sheila said the next time she gave a motivational speech, seeing as how it did not work. I sat back down and scratched Rufus down the back of his neck, which caused his grin to elongate and his back leg to start kicking.

A few minutes later I heard a muffled, "Well folks, it looks like we have our first winner today! Give Miss Sheila a hand! We're now ready for the next challenger!" With that, I stood, anticipating a gym trainer's beckon for me to enter the arena.

As if on cue, the gym trainer's head poked into the room and called out my name. I looked over at Chris and said, "These may be tests of our strength, but your training has already proven that to you. This is an exhibition to anyone who would question it."

I then smiled at Rufus and returned him to his pokeball before heading through the archway and into the arena. It amazed me, still, after already witnessing it, that the roar of the crowd was significantly louder outside of the archway. It was like an invisible barrier that muffled noise.

As I walked along the concrete walkway, it turned to grass and dirt, before becoming wet and soppy. The arena was as big as the Pewter City arena at about 400 feet in length and 200 feet in width. Much of the terrain held pools of water, tall grass and reeds, and mud. I noticed that in the center of the arena was a large pond which was surrounded by cattails and reeds.

Katherine Holmes stood on the sideline, waiting for me. She looked to be about a foot taller than me, and she wore black and blue athletic pants over a silver and blue one-piece swimsuit. Her light brown wet hair was pulled back into a ponytatail and she had drops of water covering her toned torso. I approached her and she held out a small device while saying, "Link your fighters, challenger."

I did so, registering four pokemon, and the gym leader said, "I am gym leader Katherine Holmes of the Cerulean City gym of the Indigo League. I've been waiting for your group with much anticipation. So far, one down; two to go. Let's hope you fare as well as Sheila." She winked and then recited the rules for the challenge. "Three substitutions and I reserve the right to call for a switch. Also, this is the first gym to institute a second round. Round one hosts League standard pokemon and round two pits my choice of fighter against your actual skill level, which I will assess during phase one. Good luck and welcome to the Cerulean gym."

My pokeballs were displayed across a large electric billboard above the stadium; four pokeballs side-by-side next to my league picture. The other side held leader Holmes' picture and three pokeballs. "The challenger has taken his position at the far side. Let's see what he throws in first!" boomed the loudspeakers.

I released the Pikachu, who appeared resting on a patch of soft ground. He looked around and then at me. I held up a fist, signaling him I was ready. His face hardened and he faced the marshy field. "It looks like he sent out a Pikachu! Let's see what the little electric pokemon is capable of!" Katherine Holmes released her pokemon into the tall grass and the battle timer began to tick.

I could not see the pokemon, due to the long grass, but it told me that the pokemon was a smaller one. "Pikachu, stay outside of the long grass. Make it come to you," I ordered, holding out a wide palm towards Pikachu. I saw the grass and reeds moving and parting as the pokemon approached Pikachu slowly.

Finally it emerged and I recognized it as a Krabby, a crustacean that resembled a large crab. As soon as I saw it appear, I yelled, "Thunderbolt!" and cut my hand through the air like a knife. Electricity arched from Pikachu to the little armored crab, lighting it up and causing it to spasm horribly on the ground. "A one-hit knockout!" blared the loudspeaker.

"That is quite a powerful Pikachu you have there," Holmes' voice rang through a nearby speaker. "Get ready for my next pokemon." She released her pokemon into the reeds near a pool of water, which camouflaged the new pokemon.

"Hold out there until we figure out what it is," I yelled, before the stalks parted and a small jet of water sprayed into Pikachu's face. I quickly recalled Pikachu, gaining a look at the pokemon inside the reeds. It was a bipedal blue pokemon with green patterns on its body and a lily pad on its head.

"Looks like the challenger is switching it up!" the speaker announced. I smiled; I was hoping she would use a Lombre. Lombre are mellow pokemon, compared to most, and their dominant type is grass, making them susceptible to fire. I released Rufus, who awkwardly sank slightly into the muddy quagmire. "Oh look, a Houndoom! I wonder how long a fire-type pokemon will last here."

"Alright Rufus, wait for it to show itself and then use flamethrower! In the meantime, start moving around the edges, where it's not as damp." Rufus started moving around, ears positioned towards the center of the arena. Soon another jet of water streamed from the reeds, prompting Rufus to unleash a large torrent of fire at the source.

The Lombre jumped from the reeds, into the small pool of water. "Smog!" I yelled. Rufus let a large, black, incendiary cloud roll from his open maw which covered the entire area above the small pool. He then backed up and waited again. "Start howling!" He did so, causing his blood to run faster. Flames started reaching out of his mouth as he bellowed.

The sound of water splashing was heard before a larger torrent of fire was sent into the black fog. It was followed up with a couple weak pulses of dark energy. I saw the fire and dark pulses hit the retreating Lombre, causing it to fall forward in defeat. "Good job, Rufus!" I yelled before I returned him, Holmes returning her pokemon simultaneously. I waited for Holmes to release her next pokemon before I made a choice.

"Again, the challenger switches pokemon!" Holmes' last pokemon was large enough to be seen in the tall grass. It was a Quagsire; a large, blue, bipedal salamander. They are known to be fairly unintelligent and mellow as well. I smiled and released Gilles. "Ooh a Haunter!"

"Gilles, energy ball!" I yelled. It was the only move in my pokemons' arsenals that was strong against water. It was also strong against Quagsires' ground type which meant that the move would be devastating; especially when used by a pokemon almost ten levels higher than the Quagsire.

Gilles cackled as the Quagsire mud slapped his shadowy body. He had been gathering energy from the grass around him, diverging from his usual method since there were no larger sources of natural energy. The grass in Gilles' immediate vicinity blackened and wilted as the energy left it and condensed in front of Gilles.

"Hide now! Dig!" yelled leader Holmes. The Quagsire started digging quickly into the marshy ground but Gilles had already gained enough energy to send a small translucent green orb sailing quickly through the air. The orb hit the Quagsire in the back and slammed it forward into the ground, face-first. It was then recalled.

"What a strong technique! Leader Holmes' Quagsire will be feeling that in the morning! That just leaves one phase left of the match; the lightning round. Will the challenger be the second trainer to beat leader Holmes today? Let's find out!" the commentator roared. The crowd in the stands responded with a roar of applause and cheering.

Katherine Holmes looked over her datapad for a few seconds before releasing a pokemon into the large pond in the center of the stadium. I was able to glimpse a tall dorsal fin right before it submerged. I was fairly certain of what pokemon it was. "Gilles stay high above the water. Don't let it bite you," I ordered.

Gilles flew above the water and readied an energy ball. I watched as time seemed to elongate. It was calm and quiet. The crowd's noise had died down, which left us in an eerie state of anxious suspense. The suspense was shattered in a second when a shark's head erupted from the water traveling at very high speed.

My prediction was correct; it was a Sharpedo. The bodies of Sharpedo are fascinating. They have no body past their dorsal fins and their dorsal fins and pectoral fins look like the blades of a torpedo, which earned the pokemon its name. As a result of having a very small body cavity, Sharpedo have a small stomach and an absurdly high metabolism, which allows them to digest their food while eating it. They are also able to move at high speeds without the help of a tail by shooting water behind themselves to propel themselves forward.

The Sharpedo had launched itself out of the water, straight at Gilles. Gilles' position apparently was not high enough, for the Sharpedo reached Gilles and bit down with a dark crunch. Gilles released his energy ball at point-blank range and hit the Sharpedo in its eye, right after it bit down. The moment was filled with screeching from both Gilles and the Sharpedo. The Sharpedo released Gilles after Gilles released the energy ball, causing the Sharpedo to drop and hit the water with a splash.

"Gilles, come back," I yelled and returned him.

"Looks like the challenger is switching out his pokemon. Who knows what pokemon he will use next!" the commentator said with a twinge of sarcasm. He probably thought I was going to use Pikachu. I surprised him when I released Azrael, my thirteen-foot-tall dragon. "The challenger has sent out a Gabite! And boy, that is a big one!"

"Interesting," Katherine Holmes said into the speaker.

"Azrael, this is a water fight. Swim in and start slashing. Don't wait to let it strike," I advised. "I won't be able to see you under there, so this one's on you, bud."

Azrael stomped, launching particles of mud into the air. He then trudged toward the pond. He dived into the water with a splash. Before long, I could see Azrael's figure below the water twisting and moving. The water dance ended with him exploding from the water with the Sharpedo in his claws.

Azrael's shoulder had particles of ice stuck in a large bite wound, and the Sharpedo had a few gashes on its face. "Keep going Azrael!" I cheered. The Sharpedo struggled to right itself on the marshy grass before Azrael pounced and started slashing into it. To escape, the Sharpedo used a burst of water from behind to fly out from under Azrael and create some distance.

In its struggle to escape the dragon, the Sharpedo had sped off into a random direction, which happened to be in the opposite direction of the pond. It turned to try and aim itself at the pond but saw Azrael charging. Instead of flying towards the pond, it aimed itself at Azrael and shot forward.

With a burst of speed for which the Gible species is known, Azrael dodged to the side and dragged his claw along the blind side of the Sharpedo. His claw seemed to grow larger and sharper in that instant, revealing the use of his dragon abilities. The mix of the Sharpedo's projected movement and Azrael's dragon claw resulted in a trail of blood, and a screaming and squirming Sharpedo. As Azrael turned to finish the Sharpedo, it disappeared in a flash of red light.

"The challenger is victorious!" shouted the commentator. The crowd roared and Katherine Holmes exited her designated position and approached me.

She stood in front of me and said, "Congratulations, trainer. You have successfully beaten the Cerulean City gym challenge and, as such, are awarded the Cascade Badge of the Indigo League." She extended a hand with a badge held loosely.

As I took it and thanked her, she said, "It's quite odd. I'm curious why you didn't use your Pikachu more, considering it held an obvious type advantage over the majority of my pokemon. It was also very strong for its species." She eyed me with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Well, ma'am, I wanted to give my other pokemon some experience fighting water pokemon. It would have been unfair to let only one pokemon fight," I lied.

"You know, kid, it is unwise to lie to a gym leader in her own gym. Pikachu would have been the obvious choice against Sharpedo. Especially since my Sharpedo had ice techniques at his utility. Are you a fool? Or do you take me for a fool?" she asked with checked anger in her voice.

"No, ma'am," I simply said.

"You're going to sell him, aren't you?"

"Yes, ma'am. I don't want him on my team and I couldn't find anyone who would buy him before-hand."

"I'll say that I absolutely do NOT approve of this. You still earned the Cascade badge fair and square, but you made a mockery of the Cerulean gym challenge by using it to market your pokemon."

I was silent. She was obviously correct. It was common for trainers to showcase their pokemon for sale in fights, but it was not acceptable to do so in a gym battle. Eventually I said, "I am truly sorry for my conduct." I then offered my badge back to her.

"That won't be necessary. But thank you for the sentiment. As it is, I am forgoing the awarding of your prize money. But how about this; if you fight one more pokemon of mine and win, and I will personally take the Pikachu off your hands," she said coolly.

I was shocked. "Isn't that against gym protocol?"

"This is my gym," she said strongly. "Do you accept?" I nodded fervently and took a few steps back.

"It looks like gym leader Katherine Holmes is choosing another pokemon! This is curious indeed! This must be some special challenge," pondered the announcer.

I looked to Azrael and saw that he was breathing heavily. The scales on his chest and arms looked as if they had been scrubbed with sandpaper, courtesy of Sharpedo's rough skin. The ice in his wounds had begun to melt, but he looked fairly worse for wear.

Leader Holmes withdrew a pokeball from a machine and took her place at her designated stand. I did so as well while leader Holmes spoke into her microphone, addressing the audience. "This is an exhibition match for the pleasure of the crowd," she said before releasing a twenty-two-foot dragon-fish into the center pond.

My heart sank as the commentator announced, "Well look here folks! Leader Holmes has decided to release Tsunami, her Elite Gyarados. What a treat!" Pikachu was the only pokemon in my team who was capable of dealing massive damage to the water/flying pokemon. The problem was that I had promised him only one fight. I looked to Azrael and nodded, choosing to keep my word.

"Alright, Azrael. Don't be intimidated by that fish. Use your claws and breathe fire only when close enough to hit its eyes," I said. He stomped and headed to the large serpentine fish. It was enormous, with a head the size of a car. Azrael trailed blood behind him as he trudged toward the hulking monstrosity.

When he was close enough, he rushed forward with a breath of fire. The Gyarados let Azrael get in close and tear a chunk out of its scaled belly. No sooner had he done so did Leader Holmes yell, "ICE FANG." I gasped as the large head of the Gyarados reclined and struck forward, sinking its large icy incisors into Azrael's back. Azrael roared and tore himself away, leaving a piece of his dorsal fin in the Gyarados' mouth.

I immediately recalled him as I saw him falter. With a snarl, I released Gilles. Alright Gilles, keep your distance and shoot energy balls at him." He looked over at the Gyarados and zoomed forward, taking the life force of the plants around him with him. He released a steady volley of them at the Gyarados, who decided to submerge after the first two.

When Tsunami emerged, he brought with him a tidal wave that hit Gilles out of the air and even reached me, drenching me in green water. I saw Gilles struggling to remain aloft after the hit. He must have received a significant injury. He released a couple more energy balls before the Gyarados used another wave of water.

The force of the impact, which hit Gilles despite his formless nature, sent Gilles' shadowy matter toward the ground. I returned him before he hit the ground and debated my last choice. I chose to forfeit instead of continuing. My desire to win the match was not as important as Rufus's safety. Furthermore, I intended to keep my promise to Pikachu. My decision was to take the shame of the defeat in front of the crowd.

"The challenger has forfeited! Looks like leader Holmes' Gyarados was too much for him to handle! Give our medal-winner a round of applause!" The crowd's roar was deafening. No doubt they had no idea that Leader Holmes would use one of her elites.

"I hope you understand what happened here," Katherine Holmes said as she approached.

"I do. This was very inappropriate conduct for a league trainer," I said remorsefully.

"Indeed it was. I appreciate you not using Pikachu for the fight. Still, you did not beat me, and therefore I will not take your Pikachu. I hope you learn from this. If you ever want to redeem yourself to me, I look forward to your formal challenge; a challenge to me and not to the Indigo League. Lastly, if you still have that Absol, stop by the gym an hour after it closes and we can discuss its future, considering you didn't use it in the challenge," she told me.

"I will, ma'am. Thank you for the opportunity," I replied, nodding. I left my response at that and stopped by to register my pokemon. I did not receive the award money, but I did receive the T.M. Water Pulse, much to my relief. It was a great ranged water attack that I was looking forward to receiving.

Sheila was waiting for me outside of the victors' chamber with a glare and a frown that could scare off even the meanest Gastly. I immediately braced myself for her onslaught but received only a heated glare. "We can talk later, mister. Right now Chris is challenging Ms. Holmes and it would be disrespectful to miss his match on account of chewing you out."

"Fair enough," I said simply. I knew this was coming, though I did not think my retribution in the stadium would have been so bad. It was a fair and effective lesson.

Chris won his match, during which Jade was knocked out. Rey was almost knocked out as well by a Poliwhirl, but was able to psychically confuse and assault the Poliwhirl into submission. Chris looked incredibly happy on the T.V. and pinned his badge to his lapel before leaving the arena to collect his prize.

Due to the fact that there are no T.V.'s in the gym waiting room, Chris did not know what had transpired during my match. That did not last long, though, for after Sheila was finished congratulating him and after we had left the gym, she rounded on me and recounted to him what I had done.

Sheila was entirely against everything I did with Pikachu and said, "That was wrong. You should not have caught him and you should not have forced him to fight for the sole purpose of selling him afterwards."

"Well, if you could find him an owner that isn't the Pokemon Traders Guild, then you should have shown him to me. Or you should have just taken him yourself" I said, becoming annoyed.

"He's YOUR responsibility," Sheila said, her voice rising.

"And I made sure he doesn't end up in someone's long term storage. I've only used him in one battle against one pokemon; the easiest one, no less," I retorted.

"And you don't think maybe it was a little disrespectful to gym leader Katherine? To use her gym as a stage?"

"Isn't that what the gym challenges are, though? A stage to showcase the prowess of one's pokemon?" I said philosophically.

"Don't give me that! You know damn well what gym challenges are here for and why you are competing."

"I don't want the Pikachu and I didn't want to travel back to Viridian Forest to release him. Maybe you WERE right and I shouldn't have caught him, but it's already done and we are too far from Viridian to simply go back. This was the most effective way I could think of to give him to someone who will care for him."

"That's Tauroscrap and you know it. You don't actually care for the Pikachu. You just want what you think he's worth and this was the only way you could think of to make people see it the same way."

"Look, if I really didn't care about the Pikachu, I would have used him in the fight against the Gyarados. He would have stood a chance against the Gyarados' double weakness to electricity. I kept my promise to Pikachu which was only to use him in one battle."

Sheila was taken aback by that and said, "I didn't realize you had made a deal with Pikachu. It's still wrong."

"I know. Katherine already let me have it. I get it; it was a shitty thing to do. It won't happen again. She took away my award money and publicly whipped my pokemon in front of me. Please let it go; I won't do something like that again."

"I hope so because it was low. But if you promise that you won't do something like that again, I'll leave it alone."

"Thank you. Leader Holmes invited me to bring my Absol in after gym hours, so if you both want to join, you can," I said to her and Chris.

Chris had been silent. He chose to remain that way for the most part, but nodded at my invitation. Sheila accepted it as well and we all went back to the Pokemon Center to admit our injured pokemon for medical treatment. We also celebrated in the meantime with a hot meal and waited for the gym to close.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

It was 7:00 when we arrived out front of the Cerulean City Gym. It was 7:30 before Katherine Holmes appeared from a side door and called out to me. "Wow, I didn't realize you would be bringing your companions," she said after spotting Sheila and Chris.

"We wanted to see if he was bluffing about learning his lesson from you, ma'am," said Sheila with a smile on her face.

"Haha. Well I'll have you know that I didn't take his mockery lightly. I did, indeed, teach him a lesson. I guess it's fine that you both join us. I should have realized that you would come anyway," Katherine Holmes said with a tinge of amusement. I rolled my eyes and walked towards the gym doors. "Oh, no. We aren't going inside the gym. We are actually going to my breedery. Follow me."

"Breedery? I thought you might want to buy my Absol."

"I said that we would discuss its future. Now come on and we will talk along the way."

I nodded and followed. We ended up boarding a nice car. I could not identify the make or model of the car but it had leather upholstery and smelled fairly new. I assumed it was expensive.

"So I have a proposal," Holmes said. She was sitting in the passenger's seat and looking back to us while a valet drove. "First, though, I would like to inspect this Absol for myself. But I can do that when we arrive. For now, will you show me the Absol's holopanel?"

I did so, sending a bright blue apparition into the air above the Absol's pokeball. Holmes looked it over and said, "Hmm. 29 is a pretty high level for a wild-caught. And female. Interesting. How much time has she spent outside of the ball since you caught her?" she asked.

"Not much, I'm afraid. I released her a couple times in the caves of Mt. Moon, but I could not see her very well and I did not want to give her the chance to hurt me or my friends. Other than that, I did make sure she was sleeping before I returned her each time, though her slumber usually had to be induced."

"I see. So she's essentially feral…"

"Well, I have made progress with her. She wasn't trying to attack me at every opportunity when I released her on Route 4 a couple times."

"Well that's something," said Holmes with a little sarcasm.

Sheila and Chris remained silent, listening to our conversation. The last ten minutes of the drive were spent in awkward silence since Holmes was finished asking me questions. I felt relieved when we finally pulled into a facility north-west of city limits.

We exited the car, which had been parked outside of the large building, and followed Holmes inside. The ceiling of the building looked to be made of reinforced glass and let the light from the setting sun enter. It was getting dark so electric lights were the main source of illumination. Most of the building's floor was water, separated into pools by fences. There were catwalks that allowed breeders to look down into the pools, as well as separate walkways on the ground level which allowed breeders access to the pools. There were underwater and above-water kennels, sprinkler systems, and misting systems built into the infrastructure of the building. We could see all the workings from behind a glass wall, in a room that overlooked the hatchery.

There was a large patch of artificial grass in a square room about fifty feet wide. This is probably where pokemon are shown to prospective buyer, I observed. "Alright, now let's see this Absol," Holmes said, as she released a Golduck.

I released the Absol and she appeared, sitting and staring at me with a look of boredom. "Absol, this is gym leader Katherine Holmes. She is a very adept trainer and she wants to have a look at you." The Golduck relayed the message and the Absol snorted.

"Hmm. She seems to be a little stubborn. She isn't attacking, which is a good sign. There is potential here," Holmes observed, looking at the Absol with admiration. "Here is my proposal: I will offer a trade. I would like to have the Absol, and in exchange, you may browse the water pokemon here and pick one. I will consider your choice and decide if it is a fair trade."

I was taken aback, and so were Chris and Sheila. We all emitted a collective gasp before I asked, "I can have my pick of any pokemon here?"

"Within reason. Your Absol would be a valuable addition to Cerulean City as a disaster forecaster. Plus I would personally see to it that she is taken care of. I don't think you are going to get a better offer than this," Holmes said in a businesslike manner.

I did not need further convincing. I knew how good of a deal this was. "Alright. Deal," I said, and followed her into the hatchery after recalling the Absol.

Katherine Holmes led me atop the catwalks and allowed me to peer down inside the five tanks. In the first tank I saw a snowy bank beside presumably cold water. In that tank, I saw five or six Piplup hopping around on their little penguin feet, several Seel and several Spheal swimming or scooting around on the ice.

I kept browsing and saw another tank – tank 2 – filled with Carvanha, Squirtle, Shellder, and Krabby. Past that, I looked into tank 3 to see several Tentacool, Staryu, and Totodile. Tank 4 held Psyduck, Poliwag, Slowpoke, and Mudkip. And tank 5 held Goldeen, Magikarp, Remoraid, Mantyke, and Horsea.

Sheila paused over tank 1 and said, "Awww. Spheal are so cute and fat. I want one so bad…"

Chris looked over and laughed before saying, "I already have Rey. If I wanted another water type, it would be a Piplup."

"They are so cute, too!" exclaimed Sheila. "I wouldn't mind a Squirtle, either."

After I looked into all the tanks and thought to myself for a while, I turned to Holmes and said, "These are all very young-looking pokemon."

"You are very observant," she responded.

"I don't want a baby or a common-bred. Where do you raise your water pokemon from higher stock? For instance, pokemon bred from your own team?" I asked.

"Hmm you are a bit more intelligent than you let on," Holmes said with wink. No doubt this was another stab at me in retribution for my gym display. "Fine. And yes, your Absol is worth much more than these small fries. Follow me."

Sheila gave me a smile and said, "Wow, I wouldn't have picked up on that…" I shrugged and we followed Holmes back down the catwalk.

Holmes led us over to a metal door and typed in a code before it opened with a whoosh and showed us a very long corridor with doors on each side; it must have been several hundred feet long. The walls in this corridor were a mix of reinforced glass and steel, with keypads next to each door. As I walked down the long hall, I peered through the glass and saw that, though we were on the ground floor, we were far above larger tanks. The doors led to metal walkways and stairs leading down into the larger tanks below. Past some of the doors, diving boards were placed so that trainers could presumably just dive down into the tanks.

Next to each door, there was an electric board which had names posted. The first door to my left said, "Kallan – Drake." I looked in and saw a few Piplup and Prinplup. I even saw Kallan, Holmes League Empoleon, swimming around with a few of them. I was not sure who Drake was but I assumed it was the mother, considering Kallan was Male.

I continued looking, and among the few that I saw, the ones I liked were a Feebas, a fish which would evolve into the formidable serpentine Milotic, a Magikarp bred from Tsunami, a Prinplup from Kallan's lineage, a Kabuto bred from Leader Craul's elite Kabutops, and a Horsea bred from Champion Volker's champion Kingdra and Holmes' elite Seadra.

Judging by the pokemon that could possibly evolve from the ones I picked, and the training requirements needed for them, I narrowed my options to the Feebas, the Kabuto, and the Horsea. Milotic are formidable in that they are both very powerful with special attacks and have a very hardy constitution, which allows them to take quite a beating before being weakened. Even then, they can use their powerful water type techniques to heal themselves.

Kabutops are water/rock type, and they have devastating attacks due to their abnormally large scythes. They have incredible defense, due to their rock subtype, and they are also fairly rare because they were originally bred from DNA cloned from fossils. In our current time, Leader Craul and a few others possess a Kabuto or Kabutops.

Lastly, Horsea can eventually evolve into Kingdra, the dragon/water type, but the problem is that no one knows how to make a Seadra evolve into one. Bruce Volker is one of only two pokemon trainers in the history of the League to have owned a Kingdra. Some speculate that the Kingdra is one of the main reasons he was able to take the championship. Despite the fact that Kingdra are incredibly rare, their pre-evolution Seadra also make magnificent fighters. They have powerful special attacking capabilities and strong resistances to special attacks.

Regarding pokemon evolution, it is known that many pokemon will evolve after reaching a certain level of aptitude. For example, Garchomp will evolve from Gabite after a very high level. Some pokemon require a higher level to evolve than others, because their third tier evolutions are so powerful. Dragon evolutions are known to have the highest potentials but the highest ability requirements.

Other pokemon can evolve into a third evolution after specific requirements are met. These requirements are generally held secret by the trainers whose pokemon have met those requirements and evolve because of them. The reasons have varied, but it is generally considered a mark of pride for a trainer to find a method of evolving his or her pokemon which does not evolve from the natural growth of strength. Furthermore, part of the privilege of having such a powerful pokemon comes from finding that secret and specific method of evolution.

For example, it is not known how Haunter evolve into Gengar, Seadra into Kingdra, Scyther into Scizor, or Nidorino into Nidoking. Some people have figured out hints throughout history, but the actual method used to evolve the pokemon has remained a mystery. For example, Nidorino and Nidorina have allegedly evolved using some sort of stone, and some have supposedly evolved in Mt. Moon.

Only a few pokemons' evolutionary catalysts have been recorded, including Alakazam, Machamp, and Gallade. For example, Machamp have been produced after a certain number of foes have been physically beaten by a Machoke. The fact that some third-tier evolutions are reached through secret, specific means has led many to speculate that numerous pokemon lines with only two tiers are really three-tier pokemon lines whose last evolution has not yet been discovered.

I made up my mind, taking into account weaknesses and potential, and approached Holmes with my decision. I said, "I know which pokemon I would like to have a look at."

"Is that so? Alright, which one is it?"

I led her to a door on the right and pointed down towards the water. Next to the door, the electric panel said, "Tullius – Marina."

Holmes regarded me with a serious stare and said, "You want the offspring of Volker's Kingdra, Tullius, and my Seadra, Marina?" I nodded and she said, "Maybe you are as dumb as you look. Any offspring of Volker's Kingdra is worth more than an Absol, even at her current level, let alone one that was bred with Marina."

I was slightly crestfallen, but I could sweeten the deal for her. I already knew that the value of such a pokemon was much higher than that of my Absol, but since she tried to con me in the beginning, I had seen it fit to do the same. "You're right. Doesn't hurt to ask. But what if I had more to offer?"

"Like what?" Holmes said, scrutinizing me.

"Perhaps I could offer an additional 50,000Pb," I added. I had amassed a considerable fortune from hunting Stantler and other pokemon and my funds stood at 80,000Pb.

"Sorry, kid. I would need more than that. If it was the offspring of Tullius and a normal pokemon, I would consider it. However, its mother is Marina."

I was growing slightly anxious. "What if I gave you the Pikachu, too," I said simply.

"I told you I wasn't going to buy the Pikachu from you," Holmes responded.

"This is not an offer brought from the fight. This is simply what I have to bargain with. You've seen how strong he is. I could easily sell him for over 20,000Pb given Champion Red's story and how rare an adept Pikachu is," I said.

"You are correct; the Pikachu is very strong. However, I am the water gym leader. What use have I for the electric rat?" she questioned.

"Well, you wouldn't have offered to take him off my hands as part of our wager if you weren't interested in him. He is a valuable little anomaly, regardless of your type preference. I'm sure someone you know wouldn't mind having him," I said, pulling a personal card on her. I knew she had a daughter who wasn't following in her footsteps as a water specialist.

That elicited a discreet scowl from Holmes and she said, "You know, you may not be as dumb as you look, but I still wouldn't give the offspring of Tullius and Marina to a random trainer for less than the Absol, Pikachu, and 100,000Pb."

I then became slightly panicked, but said with a level head, "How about I give you both pokemon and 70,000Pb. I can't do better than that. You've seen me battle and you said so yourself that I am fairly smarter than I look. My aim is the championship and I won't mistreat my pokemon. You saw that for yourself when I kept my word to Pikachu and did not use my Houndoom. You could leave one of Marina's children in much worse hands," I fought.

"You did keep your word with him, assuming you did, indeed, give him your word. Though I don't see why you wouldn't have used him against my Gyarados if you hadn't given him your word to make him fight only one battle. And you didn't use your Houndoom against my Gyarados. I believe that you would treat the child of Marina well. One thing, though." She bent down slightly to look me directly in the eyes. "Have you experienced the death of one of your pokemon?"

Raeda's screams flashed in my mind and I recoiled. Sheila made a pained face and Chris looked down. My reaction was apparently visible as Holmes' eyebrow raised. I had to clear my voice before saying, "Y-yes, ma'am. In Mt. Moon."

"I see," she said. Her serious expression never faltered. "Do you mind me asking what kind it was, and the circumstances?"

I started breathing faster as anxiety started gripping my lungs. Sheila interjected, "It was his Ninjask, Raeda," and then walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. I thought I had moved on, but I had never actually discussed it. Every time I recounted those events, I felt depressed and sad. I did not dwell on her, but the memory of her made me anxious. I actually felt relieved that Sheila answered for me.

"I apologize for bringing up an obviously sore subject," Holmes said. "I wanted to know if you are aware of the pain that one can possibly experience in the worst case scenario. Knowing that you have experienced the agony that can arise from leading a pokemon to its death makes me more comfortable with allowing my pokemon's life to be in your hands. You know the pain and you will not take that chance again, if your reaction is anything to go by. I will part with a Horsea for your two pokemon and 80,000Pb."

"Please, I can't go that high. Make it 75,000 and we have a deal," I pleaded. "I need to have a little money for the road."

"77,500 and not a buck lower," she said.

Sheila looked at me and said, "I will help you with whatever expenses you can't pay for."

"Thank you so much, Sheila. I will repay you somehow for this piece of mind," I said to her. I looked to Holmes and said, "You've got a deal."

For the first time since we started talking about the trade, Holmes' expression changed from one of seriousness to one of happiness. She typed a set of numbers into the keypad next to the door and led me into the tank. The walkway made loud clanking noises as we progressed downward.

The walkway released us on the edge of the pool, where a large area of artificial grass was cultivated. There were three Horsea in the tank and two Seadra, one of which was dark green. The dark green Seadra was Marina and was significantly larger than the other Seadra, who was presumably more of her offspring.

Holmes then slapped the surface of the water, and a few seconds later, Marina rose up to meet her. "Please bring the young ones up," she said. Marina disappeared underwater and then appeared later with her three Horsea. She was about four and a half feet tall and her Horsea were all around two feet tall.

The Horsea were all different shades of blue/green. One was a dark green, like its mother, one was a light blue, like its father, and the last one was an aqua color. "The dark green and aqua ones are female and the blue one is male," Holmes said to me as she brought them to the grassy patch.

When she lowered them onto the grass, they actually managed to stay aloft in the air. I knew some water pokemon were able to exist and travel outside of their habitat once certain powers started to develop, but I had not seen it for myself until now. The Horsea were all hovering above the ground, but occasionally wavering, with their tails unfurling and curling repeatedly. I had done a little research when I was still in school and knew that they utilized their power over water to control the very water in their bodies in order to keep themselves aloft. Though they could travel above the water, they were rather sluggish.

I spent some time playing with the little water seahorses along with Sheila, Chris, and Holmes. In about ten minutes, I found the male to be almost excessively aggressive, the aqua one to be fairly mellow, and the green one to be a little stubborn. I knew which one I wanted and I announced to Holmes, "I would like the green one."

She looked at me and smiled before picking up the two-foot-tall green seahorse. She turned to Marina and said, "I know you trust my judgment, and I think this trainer would be a wonderful match for your little colt. He will take her far. Here, I'll let you have the night with her," she said and then lowered the Horsea into the water. She swam around and Marina followed her.

Holmes then turned to me and said, "Meet me tomorrow at the gym and we will make the transaction. The monetary portion will be done with a card reader. Bring your bank card and your two pokemon and we will finalize the transaction. Also, if you wouldn't mind me asking, I would like to know how such a young trainer came across such a large amount of money."

"I know the value of the pokemon that my team and I hunt for food. I have a hunting license just in case, and I save the valuable parts to sell. Plus, I learned to regulate my finances from my father who used to be a Rapidash breeder before his ranch was destroyed by my Gabite's mother. I guess I'm both lucky and knowledgeable of how not to waste my money."

"So you are the legacy of the fallen Rapidash breeder. Interesting. I guess I should have made the connection after seeing that monster of Gabite. Well, let's have a late dinner and discuss your group's travels. I want to get to know you all a little better. Have you thought of a name for the Horsea?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. I will name her Ceto."

"I like it; it's both a lovely and powerful name," Holmes said with a smile. Her face suddenly darkened and she frowned while saying, "But don't you forget that I will always hold you in relative contempt until you formally and personally challenge me. I will not forget."

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

It came as an immense relief to find out that my pokemon were ready to be retrieved from the pickup counter before it closed that night. I needed to see that Azrael and Gilles were alright. Upon the reclamation of our pokemon, Sheila, Chris, and I descended on the elevator to the standard underground PokeCenter cavern in order to interact with our teams.

Within seconds of our arrival, Larry was bounding about on his two hind legs and braying happily, Pierce was rolling around in the artificial turf, and Rufus was following suit, singeing the grass. Gilles and Azrael, though, were looking worse for wear and dejected. Gilles wafted over to me with a forlorn countenance and Azrael simply started walking away.

"Gilles, don't look so sad. If you are feeling disappointed in your performance, then you don't have to anymore. It's my fault this all happened. I won't make this mistake again, though," I told him, trying to comfort him. He seemed to lighten up a little, but he was still much more downcast than usual.

I then walked over to Azrael and looked at his mangled dorsal fin, noting the large chunk missing from its base which caused a wave of guilt and remorse to wrack my nerves. His dorsal fin now looked more like a jagged scythe than a proper fin. I put my hand on his back and Azrael immediately reacted by bringing his face to mine and lifting his lips over his teeth while growling loudly. I reflexively flinched, but held his gaze. I was shocked at his behavior, but I knew why he was choosing to act that way.

In a way, I had betrayed Azrael and Gilles, I thought. I had betrayed him with poor direction, poor judgment, and poor character. He also rarely lost in a fight, and had never lost as a Gabite before, so he was probably also angry at himself. He needed space, so I kept my words short and to the point. "Azrael, I am so sorry. I failed you today. You can be sure it won't happen again, as well. I'll leave you alone for now, but we're still a team and you are still my best friend. I will still protect you in any way I can. I know you may not believe me now, but I'll prove it to you in time. I won't let you down again."

Azrael's lips unfurled and hid his teeth once again, and I cupped my hand over his cheek before he turned and trudged away. I then returned to Gilles and the rest of my friends. I had screwed up; that much was terribly clear, and I felt horrible about myself.

The worst part was that a side of me knew it was a bad decision from the start. I knew Sheila would get mad at me because I knew it was wrong. Why did I do it? Sheila was right, again, about something. I was being selfish, and that line of thinking would drive a wedge between me and not only my pokemon, but also Chris and Sheila. To prevent any more harm to my pokemon, I decided to make a change in my perspective.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I waited outside of the Cerulean City gym early in the morning, anxiously awaiting Holmes' arrival. I had hardly slept the past night, deciding to call my parents before joining Sheila and Chris at the same bar where we had celebrated Chris' birthday. Contrary to what I had expected, my father was actually audibly happy for me. My mother even congratulated me, diverging from her normal path of silent acceptance.

I also received a message from Leader Craul. It read, Excellent match, kid. Though, I can piece together why Kate would have you fight her Gyarados and I would say that I hope you learned your lesson. Rest up, keep your chin up, and get back to it!

Leader Craul's message made me smile. He did not approve of what I did, but he still kept motivating me. At least I had not lost his respect, as far as I knew.

At the bar, I kept to my preference for water, but eventually accepted a beer from an anonymous source. As unwise as it probably was to drink the beer, I had two friends nearby who actually pressured me slightly into trying it. I found it to be a little bland, not tasting horrible but not tasting good. It was enough for me to say, "Ok, I've had a drink. Now leave me alone about alcohol," and I was rewarded with the relaxation of their pressure.

In the morning, Sheila and Chris had joined me, both wanting to see my new Horsea. Apart from us, there were a few gym trainers waiting. Eventually, I spied Holmes' car approaching. I had everything I needed and the suspense was killing me.

Holmes' vehicle entered a camouflaged garage and she unlocked the gym doors from inside minutes later. She looked at me and said, "I see you're here early. Wouldn't have expected any less. Follow me to my office, if you please."

I did so, trailing Sheila and Chris. The transaction turned out to be a relatively simple endeavor. It was overseen by Leader Holmes' lawyer, and we were finished with the trade in fifteen minutes. Afterwards, Holmes said to me, "I don't need to tell you to take care of little Ceto, but I will anyway. Marina, as a mother, is very attached to her offspring, so visit occasionally. It would bring Marina some happiness to see her child. Other than that, I wish you good luck in your travels. I need to return to my duties as a gym leader. Goodbye, and good luck."

I took the pokeball, which was half aqua and half black in color, back to the pokemon center quickly. We went down to the pokemon field and, amidst several other trainers, released our pokemon nearby. Azrael's presence seemed to scare most of the other trainers away, given his tendency to snarl at anyone who wandered too close to us.

After I snagged a small pool of water for myself, I released Ceto into its depths. She looked up at me and I looked back down at her. She was dark green, had dark blue eyes, and tan stomach scales. The large sea horse then squirted me in the face with a line of water, blinding me for a second and causing Gilles to cackle uncontrollably.

Ceto sped off into the pool, shaking as if she were giggling. I laughed, took off my shoes and socks, and sat on the edge of the pool with my feet submerged. I looked at her ball and saw that she was level 20. It also listed her known moves, courtesy of Holmes.

Rey was swimming around and playing with Ceto, much to the delight of Chris and Sheila. I brought all of my pokemon near to me and then called out Ceto to address her. It took a couple attempts before I realized she wasn't listening to me, choosing, instead, to play with Rey. Remembering Holmes' method, I quickly slapped the surface of the water. It grabbed the little Horsea's attention immediately, and she rose out of the water.

I smiled at her and said, "Hello little Ceto. Welcome to our family. This is Azrael," I said pointing to him, "this is Gilles," pointing to my ghost, "and this is Rufus," pointing at my hound. "We are a team; as such, we live like a team, train as a team, and win as a team. You have a lot of potential and I intend to see you reach your highest. In order for us to accomplish this feat, you must trust me, obey me, and offer the same courtesy to Azrael, Gilles, and Rufus. Do you understand?"

Pierce relayed the message and Ceto jumped out of the water and sprayed bubbles onto my face. I laughed and said, "That's good! Now let's have a training session," and then set up a small series of exercises to gather an understanding of Ceto's capabilities.

After about an hour of target practice, distance measuring, speed recording, and such, Azrael suddenly started snarling in the direction to my rear. Sheila's eyes also fixed on a point behind me. Soon after I heard a voice say, "It must have been a bitch watching your pokemon get their asses beat into the ground. How cocky and stupid do you have to be to challenge leader Holmes' Gyarados?"

I turned to see a familiar freckled face hosting dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. I heaved a sigh. Just who I needed to see… Alex.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gabite

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Horsea

**Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Kara – Roselia

Larry – Flaaffy

Lady – Ledian

Shade – Kirlia

**Trainer: Christopher Johnson; KA592SA230**

**Pokemon in Possession:**

Pierce – Zoroark

Rey – Psyduck

Jade – Ariados

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note:

Sorry for the wait everyone. Classes take time, and so does studying. Well, we have a new addition to the team! And our hero has learned a very valuable lesson the hard way. The next update will be a refinement of chapters 1 and 2, so I won't begin chapter 11 until I finish with that. Thank you everyone for comments and, as always, more to come!


	11. Chapter 11: Duty and Epiphany

Chapter 11

"Alex, I thought I made it clear that you aren't welcome in my presence. Now kindly shove off," I said to the kid.

"Aww, and here I was thinking we could have a friendly conversation," he responded, giving a look of feigned sincerity.

"You obviously weren't thinking then," I said coldly.

"When will you learn your lesson? Just leave us alone," pleaded Sheila.

"Yeah, what's your deal? Do you take pleasure in watching your pokemon get hurt?" asked Chris.

"You two can piss off!" he said to Chris and Sheila. "I will teach this asshole a lesson one way or another. Speaking of, I hope you plan on competing at the Nugget Bridge. If you're not too scared of getting shown up, I'll see you there." At that, he left us staring at his back disbelievingly.

"I think that kid deserves everything you give him," said Chris with a frown. "Let's do it! The prize is great and it will give us a chance to test our pokemon against people at our level."

I scoffed at the notion that the trainers would be at our level and cockily said, "I was considering competing anyway. Though I don't believe anyone at our level will only have two badges," "Plus, if I beat Alex enough, I might be able to scare him off, if he truly cares about his pokemon."

"I hope so…" said Sheila. "So what is the Nugget Bridge Tournament?" she asked.

Chris cleared his voice before chanting, "The Nugget Bridge is a tournament style competition in which there is only one winner. The participants may only use two pokemon and must all be in the same badge group, which are 1-2 badges, 3-4 badges, 5-6 badges, 7-8 badges, 9 and up, and Elite 4 badges. A tournament is held every week, with a minimum of ten participants, and trainers can only compete a total of five times, win or lose. The prize varies based on the amount of victories a trainer has received and the level of competition, though the standard first-place prize for a trainer's first victory at the Nugget Bridge is a gold nugget. Big surprise, huh?"

"Hmm. Interesting," murmured Sheila. "Well, I won't be competing. I would be in the 3-4-badge bracket, and I haven't received a badge from a third-tier gym."

"Fair enough. Though I'm pretty sure that you would still stand a chance," I said encouragingly. I then looked to Chris, seriously. "You know, if we enter this competition, there will still only be one winner, right?"

"Of course," Chris said, laughing. "For the purpose of the tournament, we will not hold anything back, and there will be no hard feelings afterwards."

"Alright then, so long as we both understand and appreciate that fact," I said, feeling relieved.

During the next couple of days leading up to the tournament, I spent a lot of time with Ceto, getting to know her and making sure she transitioned well. I found out that she loved to play more than she liked to listen to me, which was frustrating at times. She also liked to shoot bubbles at me playfully, and although it was cute, it was counter-productive when I was trying to train her. I worked with Chris to teach her the scald technique, and made some progress with that, but I started to grow nervous that she would not listen to me when it mattered most.

Regardless, I thought about my choices in pokemon and made up my mind before I registered to compete. On the day before the tournament, it was announced that twelve trainers would be competing at our badge level, including Chris and I. When the day finally arrived, Sheila, Chris, and I made our way to a battlefield which held a beautiful view of the Nugget Bridge.

Before the tournament started, we were given a brief history of the bridge, which basically told of the tournament being moved because the repairs to the bridge were too costly, and the bridge arena favored certain pokemon types over others. Nowadays, there were two different fields for battles, and trainers could see their upcoming matches listed on an electronic billboard with the field assignment.

When my bracket number was announced, I made my way to the correct field and took my place 100 feet from my opponent. On each side of the field were bleachers, which held a fairly large crowd. My opponent and I released our pokemon once the referee signaled, him leading with a Pidgeotto and me leading with Rufus.

The bird immediately took flight and sent air waves streaming at Rufus. Rufus retaliated with a barrage of dark pulses and shadow balls while he ran around the field. Before long, the Pidgeotto fell from the sky, battered and unmoving. I quickly switched out Rufus as the trainer swapped out his pokemon, and Azrael appeared before me.

The trainer's last pokemon was a Poliwag, a foot-tall tadpole with legs and a spiral pattern on its chest. Azrael won quickly, after a failed attempt to bite the Poliwag almost resulted in the small water pokemon being swallowed. The trainer then forfeited, fearing for his pokemon.

Afterwards, I used the Nugget Bridge medical facility to heal my pokemon of any damage they sustained, and I repeated that process after every battle, so that they would be in peak condition for every match. Chris met with success in his first match as well, beating his opponent ruthlessly. Unfortunately, Alex also continued on.

Chris and I made our way up the brackets, watching pokemon fall before ours with limited challenge, until the only remaining challengers were Chris, Alex, and myself. At that point, the officials randomly placed two trainers together, and the winner would be expected to battle the third trainer.

I was placed with Alex, and Chris would face the victor. I was ready for my battle with Alex, having seen from his battles that he was using his Machoke, Jericho, and his Azumarill, Mimi. Apparently, his Marill had evolved into the three-foot-tall blue rabbit-like water pokemon with large ears and a pattern of white dots on its belly. My first pokemon would be a gamble. If he used Mimi first, and I used Rufus, he would be facing a pokemon with his natural weakness. I planned for the worst and prepared Azrael.

Alex stood away from me, looking at me with a scowl, and released Jericho. As soon as the signal to start was given, we were issuing orders to our pokemon. I stomped twice, making Azrael submerge, and Alex told Jericho to focus in. I slid my foot forward sideways and waited. Soon after, Azrael emerged, carrying a wave of dirt five feet in front of the fighting pokemon.

Apparently Alex had attempted to train Jericho to break through such waves, because the Machoke tried to kick through the attack, but timed it too late. The force of his kick mixed with the power of the wave broke his leg to the side with a loud crunch! A series of groans were heard in the stands, and the Machoke fell to the ground roaring in pain. Seeing that Jericho was badly hurt, I yelled out, "Hold, Azrael," to allow Alex to return his pokemon; it was only good sportsmanship.

I waited for a few seconds, expecting Alex to recall Jericho. Instead, he yelled, "Get up and seismic toss!" I was taken aback with shock, and apparently so was Azrael. However, that did not stop Jericho from standing on one foot and throwing his weight into Azrael, who took the hit, falling back a couple feet.

My outrage at Alex's blatant disregard for the health and safety of his pokemon was also felt by the crowd, which was a cacophony of 'boos' and derisions. I then yelled out, "Fine, then. Azrael, dual chop his other leg!" Azrael obeyed, and used his draconic claws to slash two deep gouges into the Machoke's thigh, who could not dodge the hit because of his injury.

Jericho fell to the ground in agony once more before Alex finally recalled him. I actually felt sorry for Alex's starter; no pokemon should be forced to fight after that. He then released Mimi, and I kept Azrael out. I yelled, "Sandstorm," and Azrael quickly became shrouded in dirt.

But then Alex yelled out for a move that I had not seen him use before. He screamed, "Ice Beam!" and the Azumarill let loose a beam of frozen energy, the front of which was frozen into a sharp spear, into the sandstorm. I saw Azrael stumble back out of his cover, with the large shard of ice stuck in his shoulder, and roaring in pain.

I was filled with rage as the realization dawned on me. Alex really is not going to give up trying to beat me. That T.M. is very expensive and is not necessary for many of the remaining gym battles. He will do anything to beat me. I stomped twice and Azrael burrowed. I then thought for a few seconds of any strategy that could work.

As I pondered, I noticed that Azrael's sandstorm was still raging in spite of the fact that he was no longer standing near it, a testament to Azrael's growing prowess. I finally thought of a tactical scheme and stomped twice, telling him to return. He appeared close by soon after, and I quickly yelled, "Stantler trap!" before he submerged again, dodging another beam of ice.

A minute passed as I waited. Then another. The suspense was growing, and getting at Alex, who yelled, "You have to fight! This is cowardly!" Mimi had not moved, so I lifted my foot and brought it down, yielding at the last second to keep from actually stomping. Since Alex was so far away, he could not tell the difference, and yelled, "Start moving, Mimi!" Perfect.

Mimi quickly moved forward about ten feet, and then switched her direction to the side. When she switched directions, the ground suddenly caved in, bringing her down into a collapsed shaft. Azrael then emerged above-ground a few feet from the edge of the pit, and quickly started sending bulldoze after bulldoze down into the trap, burying the Azumarill.

It actually took Alex five bulldoze attacks before he recalled her and accepted his defeat. The crowd cheered, though I feel like they were happier to see Alex gone than to see me win. Alex left the field at that point, and I used the time before my final match with Chris to heal my pokemon. At the medical station, Alex apprehended me, saying, "You better enjoy your winning streak while you can. I will beat you eventually."

"Are you insane? Really, I've beaten you into the dust over and over, and you won't quit. What is this infatuation you have with me? You literally let your pokemon get injured to keep your petty pride intact. Get over this and grow up, Alex," I chastised. "And I have no doubt you will get better, but let me tell you something: I will as well, and I won't stop. I may be an asshole, but at least I don't treat my friends like simple tools that can be repaired."

"Are you lecturing me? Who do you think you are? You've wronged me and I will make sure you suffer for it," he said scathingly.

"Then I warn you now; if you pull anything like what you did to Azrael in Mt. Moon again, I will make good on my promise to you," I threatened. That shut him up. I chose not to pursue the conversation any further, and finished at the medical station. I then made my way to the field for my final match, feeling a bit better about myself.

Five minutes before the start of the match, I met with Chris. "I just wanted to say, again, no hard feelings for the outcome. I wouldn't want to lose you as a friend over this tournament."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I promise that things won't change if you beat me, unless you sink to low blows and cheap shots. This is a competition and we all know the risks in participating. We both know that there can only be one winner, which means that one of us has to lose."

I sighed in relief. "Alright. Well, I would say 'good luck', but I think that that would be somewhat self-defeating. So I will simply say 'good game'." At that, we parted and took our positions on the field.

We waited as the crowd went silent, and then the referee blue a whistle. Knowing that Chris was using his Psyduck and his Zoroark, I had to make a gamble again. This time, I chose to start with Rufus, sending him out into the middle of the field. Unfortunately, Chris sent out Rey. This is going to be interesting.

Rufus was weak to Rey's water moves, and Rey was somewhat weak to Rufus's dark-type techniques; Rufus could not use fire effectively, and Rey's psychic attacks were useless. Immediately we yelled out commands. As Rufus let loose a dark pulse, Rey had issued a water pulse. The large shadowy bubble from Rufus connected with the watery bubble produced by Rey with a large crash, sending a wave of air streaming across the field and washing over the crowd.

Fortunately for Rufus, his pulse was much stronger than Rey's, and the dark pulse dissipated the watery shockwave, before hitting Rey. "Keep at it!" both me and Chris yelled. I could see that he had faith in his pokemon, just as I did. So Rufus moved clockwise around the field while Rey moved adjacent to him, both of them sending pulse after pulse. The pulses' collisions sent wave after wave of air rushing through the vicinity.

The waves of air coupled with the dispersed water from Rey's water pulse made it seem as if the area was under the assault of a hurricane. The crowd was being utterly battered by the wind and struggled to keep their belongings from flying off or being ruined by water, but Chris and I stood vigilant over our pokemon. Our hair flew wildly as we held our positions, refusing to change tactics.

Each time the pulses would clash, Rufus' dark pulse would overpower Rey's water pulse, hitting Rey and wearing him down. Once, however, Rey sent a more powerful pulse, hitting Rufus with the watery shockwave. It also caused him to falter, disoriented by the technique. Rey was able to hit him once more before he snapped out of it and resumed his own barrage. Once or twice, Rufus's dark pulse would cause Rey to flinch, leaving him open for a free hit, which expedited his weariness. Finally, after ten pulses from Rufus, the Psyduck was flung from his feet. He landed on his back, unconscious, and Rufus howled in victory.

The crowd was pleased with the intense battle and roared in appreciation, while I praised Rufus. Chris looked crestfallen and returned Rey while I checked the holopanel on Rufus' pokeball. Rufus was down to 35%, but he had leveled! I decided to let him rest and to allow Azrael to participate in the finals match, so I switched him out.

Azrael then faced off against Pierce. His eyes narrowed and I stomped my command. Azrael burrowed and Chris yelled, "Hone claws!" Pierce looked at his nails as they shimmered. I slid my foot forward sideways, and Chris repeated his command. Soon after, Pierce was hit hard by Azrael's wave of dirt and flung onto his side many feet back. Chris then yelled, "Imprison!" which made me realize his tactic.

I stomped to tell Azrael to burrow, but Pierce caught him in his gaze. Soon after, Azrael pawed the ground, looking as if he had difficulty remembering what to do. I then yelled, "New plan; dual chop!" and Azrael surged forward, clipping the Zoroark in the side while it tried to dodge my dragon's claws. While he did so, he started furiously clawing into Azrael, creating unrealistically large gashes.

Crap. His attacks were drastically strengthened! I switched up the strategy. "Sand tomb, and then back away!" Azrael made the ground at Pierce's feet begin to swirl, and Pierce was sucked in. Azrael backed up while I yelled, "Great! Now flamethrower!" Azrael responded by pouring fire into the dirt whirlpool. To his credit, Pierce was able to withstand the fire long enough to get out of the sand tomb, but faltered and fell soon after. I was the victor!

I released Rufus and we received a cheer from the crowd before I took them to the medical station. Chris looked crestfallen, but I trusted that he would not take the loss personally. After treating my pokemons' wounds, I returned to the field to be awarded a nugget of gold the size of an elongated golf ball, and my picture was taken with my pokemon. Finally, before I was allowed to leave, I was given a short interview in which the reporter asked me how I felt about my win and what challenges were particularly difficult to overcome. I responded as succinctly as possible, making the interview as short as possible so that it ended after a few minutes. At that point in my journey, I was beginning to amass some renown.

Chris, Sheila, and I made our way back to the Pokemon Center after I caught a glance of Alex pouting in the crowd. Luckily, Chris did not hold the same sentiment and cheered up by the time we arrived. He congratulated me on my victory, and I mentioned how his pokemon had given mine a run for their money. At the end of the day, we were all still friends.

Chris did, however, ask me where he went wrong while we ate dinner, and I said, "In Rufus's battle with Rey, it simply came down to the fact that Rufus had stronger attacks. With Azrael, I would say the same. Azrael really packs a punch, and it shows how tough Pierce is to have stayed in close combat with him for as long as he did."

That seemed to lighten Chris up, and he mentioned that he would have to train more, to which I chuckled and said, "Now you're getting it!" Sheila laughed and said that she was proud of us for showing such sportsmanship. As I had hoped, nothing changed, except now my team had our first win at the Nugget Bridge to show for our efforts.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

That night, we decided to go out again to celebrate our collective victory at the Cerulean City gym, and my victory at the Nugget Bridge, at the Drunken Drowzee. This time, to Sheila's delight, I chose to have a drink. However, to Sheila's chagrin, I made it clear that the drink would be of my own choosing.

When we arrived, it was just as busy as before, so we found a seat upstairs again. We were served by a waiter named Joe, and I asked him for a lager, mimicking Chris's decision. I found it bitter, but tasty, and enjoyed it while Sheila started herself off with a Long Island.

Not long after I received my drink, a boy around my age approached us and said, "Hey, you're the two guys who battled for first at the Nugget Bridge! I was there, and it was amazing!" Chris and I blinked, surprised, and the boy yelled out over the din of the crowd, "Hey everyone! We got the Nugget tourney champ over here!" and the bar fell into applause.

I reddened, becoming embarrassed and a little indignant that the guy drew so much attention to me in particular. For the rest of the night, our table held a steady stream of people wanting to talk to us, congratulate me, and in some rare cases, flirt. Of all the people who approached our table with more romantic intentions, none of them were boys. Apparently, the only girl at our table, sitting with the tournament champ and runner up, was too difficult a challenge for prospective male suitors.

Most of the attempts to flirt with me went over my head; the social scene and romance were not the focal part of my life thus far. However, at some point around one in the morning, when Chris had left to use the restroom, one girl by the name of Kimberly persisted such that it became rather obvious. When Kimberly asked to see my "pokeballs," Sheila stepped in. "Don't you have some other place to be? We're trying to have a private celebration."

Kimberly responded with, "Oh, I'm sorry. Just because no one's interested in you doesn't mean that your friend can't talk to anyone."

Sheila's face went redder than a Cherubi, and before she could start shouting, I said, "Hey. You don't get to talk to her like that. I'm not interested, so you can leave us alone." Sheila did not say anything after that, but Kimberly was not finished.

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that. Why don't you come over here and I can get you a drink?" she said. She motioned over to the bar and my brow furrowed. Before I could tell her to get lost, a guy who looked a little older than me stepped over.

"Hey Kimberly, are these trainer trash bothering yeh?" he asked her, though looking right at me. I started to feel my anger rising.

"Bud, I thought I told you we're through," Kimberly said, annoyed.

The guy did not listen to her and continued, "I don' care if you have li'l Poodles te fight fer yeh; she's out of yer league."

I stood up and said, "And what if I think your opinion is just a load of ass-Muk? Or that you can go slap a Nidoran?"

Bud became angry at that point and said, "Well wha' are yeh gonna do abou it? C'mon bro, do somethin'."

At that moment, I felt a hand on my arm. I looked back to see Sheila looking at me with a pleading look. She said, "Please don't," and, for once, I listened to her. I looked back at Bud and said, "I just won the Nugget Bridge; you are no challenge in comparison," and sat down.

Bud laughed and turned away, saying, "Typical! Trainer trash always need som'un te fight ther battles fer 'em." Kimberly walked away with him, wearing a look of disappointment, and I took a large gulp of my lager.

"Thank you for not fighting him. You probably would have beaten him, but you would have gotten into trouble." I grunted in acknowledgement, still seething from the obvious anti-trainer's insults. "And thank you for standing up for me," Sheila said, and gave me a big hug.

I shrugged her off embarrassingly, and she giggled. I finished off my beer, and told Sheila she could order me another if she wanted. At that she joyfully called Joe back over to order me an Amaretto Sour. Chris returned to the table by the time the drink was brought over, and he said, "So, did I miss anything?" before sitting halfway on his chair and falling over.

Sheila laughed and said, "Yeah, an annoying fly. But he buzzed off," and watched me take a sip of the mixed drink. It tasted wonderful, and I thanked her for it while Chris embarrassingly took his seat. The two drinks were enough to give me a buzz, but luckily, the way back to the PokeCenter did not hold a repeat of the last time we went out to drink.

As I once again helped Sheila and Chris to their rooms, my buzz erased any sense of frustration that I would have had. Chris stumbled into bed and I left the room. Sheila, who was not nearly as drunk as the time before, but still worse-off than me, let me walk her to her room. At her door, she looked to me and said, "Thanks again for standing up for me," and gave me a kiss on the cheek, before heading into her room and shutting the door.

I felt my cheek with my hand where she gave me the kiss, and walked back to my room in a buzz-accompanied daze. I decided that it did not mean anything serious, and let the issue slide from my mind to allow myself to fall asleep easier. Nothing's changed. It was only a 'thank you'; nothing more.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

As I had predicted, nothing changed. We met up the next morning and prepared to leave, though we put it off until the afternoon, when Chris's hangover started to fade. Although it had not snowed in Cerulean for about a week, the cold temperature had left the ground hard and the grass lightly frosted. Route 5 lay ahead, and we were not going to wait for our pokemon and ourselves to grow lazy or lose our edge. This was especially important now that we had entered the Big Four: the four cities of Cerulean, Vermillion, Celadon, and Saffron, and Routes 5, 6, and 7, colloquially known as the Grinder.

The routes between each city range from 15 to 25 miles in distance and do not stretch over mountains or through vast forests, so every moment we spent traveling needed to be used wisely. The four cities lay very close to each other, relative to the other gym cities in the league, meaning that a trainer spends less time training in the wilderness en route between them. Therefore, a new culture has emerged along the Big Four routes to allow trainers to keep up with the increases in league level standards.

Although we would be traveling at our own pace, we would not be subject to environments where our mettle was tested every day, like in the mountain caves or in the heart of a forest. Unlike the trials of the wilderness, the Big Four area is notorious for being a hotspot for trainer battling, where competition becomes ruthless and challenges are issued without regard to trainer competency. Since the cities have expanded over the years, the routes have shrunken somewhat, and the wild pokemon who inhabit them have become fewer and stronger.

It is quite amazing that trainers do not improvise more or bend their view of league conventions, for if they did, it is possible that the Grinder might not have even formed. I found an easy way around the cutthroat routes, as well as ample opportunity to train my pokemon, by simply thinking outside of the box.

Routes are characterized by a central path which keeps trainers from getting lost on their way to the cities. They tend to be around ten miles wide in the Big Four area, with large radio towers along the center, and grow much wider everywhere else, but have an undefined border where trainers generally do not stray for fear of becoming lost. The Rangers also do not operate beyond those areas, meaning that the wilderness outside of the routes is untamed and unwatched. Trainers who travel outside of the routes are essentially on their own, and if something happens to them, they usually become categorized as missing.

This is where I find a paradox and hypocrisy. As far as I am concerned, as a pokemon trainer, I AM on my own. Granted, I have traveling companions, but my struggle to become the best is my own; I cannot and will not share first-place. The irony lays in the convention of restricting yourself to the protected routes. After all, why do you need pokemon if the routes are protected by Rangers?

The routes in the Big Four zone specifically, in terms of building wilderness expertise, are the half-assed method of training. Sure, you battle other trainers over and over, but it is easy. It is simple because that is all you need to do; battle. You walk and you fight. The true challenge lies in a mix of unfamiliarity, gambling, and danger.

Unfamiliarity keeps you on your toes and forces you to always learn, adapt, and evolve. Gambling forces you to make decisions whose outcomes you cannot foresee, like where to set up camp, or which pokemon to engage with. Finally, danger is what elevates elite league contenders above enthusiasts. There is hardly any real danger on the roads, save for from your fellow trainer, but in the untamed and unregulated wilderness outside of the routes, wild pokemon are stronger, and your failures are more crippling.

It did not come as a surprise to me when Sheila and Chris balked in fear when I told them that I intended to go around the routes between cities. "There's no need for that! Beating trainers on the routes will give our pokemon plenty of training!" exclaimed Chris.

"Yeah, it may not be the same as hoofing through the depths of the wilderness, but it is a challenge," said Sheila.

"Maybe so," I argued, "but I'm not looking to take the ordinary path of a trainer. Ordinary begets ordinary. If we want to rise above everyone else, we need to disconnect ourselves from them. Actually pitting ourselves against the real dangers of pokemon training is what makes great trainers so different from those who simply follow the recommended course. The recommended course is not designed to make trainers great; it is designed to allow as many trainers as possible to become competent enough to fulfill their duties to the Indigo League and also to make the process as safe as possible for them to reach that point."

"That does make sense…" pondered Sheila, nervously. "But I think you are not giving the Routes enough credit. Do you realize how many different pokemon we will encounter by battling? Our pokemon will get the opportunity to gather experience in fighting other pokemon of every type. We can't find that sort of variety in the wilderness."

"Hmm, that's a good point too," I acceded. "Alright, then. Let's make a deal. We will stay on route 5 and 6, gaining prowess in fighting all different kinds of trainer pokemon. After we earn our badges from Vermillion, we will travel outside of the routes. Is that acceptable?"

Chris and Sheila nodded, though they did so reluctantly. I did not blame them; the wilderness outside of the routes is a place full of rumors, legends, and superstition. And there was evidence to back up much of the stories and sayings. It was certainly not easy; that much was certain of, and counting on.

We settled on our plan of action as we ate our last meal before leaving. However, as soon as we walked out of the PokeCenter, our PokeDexes started vibrating and letting off a very loud alarm. When we all checked them, they read the same message.

URGENT! YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED UPON TO UPHOLD THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POKEMON TRAINERS IN THE INDIGO LEAGUE. REPORT TO ROUTE 9 AT THE RANGER'S STATION FOR DIRECTION, IMMEDIATELY. WARNING: ALL TRAINERS WHO IGNORE THE CALL TO DUTY WILL BE MET WITH PUNITIVE ACTION BY THE INDIGO LEAGUE INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO A FINE OR POSSIBLE EXPULSION FROM THE INDIGO LEAGUE!

The PokeCenter we had been staying at happened to be very close to Route 9, which is probably why we were chosen to step up. "Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice," I sighed. "We'd better hurry."

Our course was diverted eastward, and with the help of a beacon which started pulsing on our GPS's, within five minutes we arrived at the Ranger's Station outside of Route 9. There were many trainers there as well, lined up and awaiting orders.

"You three, have you received the call to report?" yelled a burly ranger with a bushy brown mustache. We nodded, and he said, "Alright, get in line." We acquiesced and queued up. I counted twenty-five trainers in the line including those in my group, and the ranger yelled out, "We are missing five trainers, but we don't have the time to wait! Here's the situation: We don't know why at the moment, but a large herd of Tauros has been driven to stampede toward the city. Our job is to prevent them from getting here. We are the first line of defense, and in the meantime, Leader Holmes will take a squadron of Rangers to investigate the source of their uproar. Any questions?" He surveyed us with a serious look.

"Why were we chosen, specifically?" asked a young boy.

"You were called upon for one reason: you were close by and this is an urgent situation. Now, we allow you a level of freedom in performing your task, but we expect you to complete the task within the parameters of the law and the conditions which we establish. These are the conditions: prevent the Tauros from reaching the city and its suburbs, prevent other pokemon displaced by the stampede from entering the city and its suburbs, do not cause any excessive or unnecessary collateral damage, keep any and all civilians from being injured, and watch out for your fellow trainer. You will receive locational assignments momentarily."

The ranger was given a clipboard as three new trainers entered the ranks. "Those of you who just showed up, ask your fellow trainers to reiterate the information you would have received if you arrived here in a timely manner! Alright, groups of five and one group of three! Now assemble!" Chris, Sheila, and I added two trainers by the name of Lindsey and Barney quickly, for fear of the wrath of the Ranger drill sergeant. The rest of the trainers shuffled around chaotically, looking to keep their personal groups intact, but taking a long time to do so.

"You five!" he yelled, pointing at my group. "Since you are the first group to assemble, you are team Alpha for the duration of this operation. Give me a PokeDex!" I complied, giving him my Dex, and he linked his with it for a second. Then he returned it to me, saying, "I've marked the location that you need to hold on your map. Don't let them get past that point, and try to change their course to the south! And remember, if they are enraged, they will not stop or change direction until they hit something. Now go."

We nodded and took off into Route 9, our coats snug and our feet crunching on the frosted turf. The marker was a mile outside of the city, so we had to run the whole way, though Lindsey chose to ride on her Rhyhorn and Barney on his Fearow. We spread out to a couple hundred feet from each other as we ran, and about halfway there, we started encountering pokemon fleeing in the direction of the city. I released Azrael and Rufus and ordered them to shoot fire into the air to deter the wild pokemon, Sheila had Kara releasing spores and Larry releasing waves of electricity, and Chris had Pierce creating illusions and Rey sending out pulses of water. Our tactics worked most of the time.

A couple times, the wild pokemon were not discouraged and ran right at us, forcing us to engage them in combat. My team and I had to fight a few Poochyena and a Raticate before we reached our checkpoint. We remained spread out at the map marker, and moved forward a few hundred feet to give us some space to work with. Soon after, we saw separate teams of trainers approaching their own checkpoints, which were several hundred feet away on each side of our group. At that point, all of our pokemon were released.

Before long we could feel the ground start to shake and see a large cloud of dust appearing over the wide expanse of long frozen grass. Minutes before the Tauros drew near enough for action, I caught some movement in the tall grass between Chris and I. I immediately ran towards it, seeing that Chris was approaching as well. When we were close enough, I saw three small red birds hopping as fast as they could in our direction. I recognized them instantly as Torchic, the earliest evolution of its line, which is famed for its affinity for fire and fighting.

Chris and I looked at each other quickly before saying, "Let's catch them," at the same time. Rey used a toned down water pulse, which hit them all, and Gilles started hypnotizing them. They must have been too panicked to react, or they might just have been too young to attempt to fend us off, but we were able to catch all three on the first attempt. I caught two, and Chris caught one, though he threw two balls and missed with the first. Having been a baseball pitcher for most of my life really helps.

By the time we returned to our pokemon, the dust cloud approaching us had grown larger, and we could hear the sound of hundreds of hooves hitting the ground on their way towards us, sounding like an earthquake. At that point, I realized that I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to stop them. I looked around and yelled out, "What should we do?" while drawing my bow and a few arrow cartridges.

Sheila's voice rang out and said, "Make a wall, or take out their legs, or SOMETHING!"

One aspect of the League responsibilities about which I had forgotten, was the independence assigned to trainers in performing their duties. It was designed to create leaders and build situational expertise. The trainers are the first line of defense, and if they cannot succeed, the Rangers finish the task. The Rangers wait farther back and sometimes they observe the trainers in action.

I reminded myself of that fact and looked to Azrael before saying, "Create a trench underground between us and the stampede, and then get back here immediately!" I then looked to Gilles as Azrael surged ahead, and said, "I need you to weave amongst them, hit their legs to trip them up so that they fall, or hypnotize them." To Rufus I said, "I need you to use flamethrower to set fire to the grass behind me, and create a wall of flames. Then keep setting fire to the grass in a line behind all of the trainers." Finally, I said to Ceto, "I need you to make sure the fire does not spread too far towards us or towards the city. Dampen the grass in a line so that it doesn't catch fire." Ceto's eyes gave me a look of glee and sent a round of bubbles splashing on my cheek before hovering away. "I'm counting on you Ceto!" I called, worried that she would not get the job done.

As soon as Rufus started, I received a few looks of shock from Chris, Sheila, and the other trainers, but a few followed suit, setting fire to the grass in a long line. It was below freezing outside, but the heat of Rufus' fire was enough to overcome the temperature and the wind. I yelled out to Sheila on my left and then to Chris on my right, repeating to both, "Pass the word: set fire to the grass behind us and use water pokemon to keep it from spreading too far towards us or the city! All other pokemon need to stop the Tauros somehow, by tripping them or paralyzing them in some way with techniques such as thunder wave! Also, Azrael is digging trench traps, so if anyone else wants to help, that would be great!"

They did so, and the fire behind us grew as the other trainers obeyed. The stampeding herd then entered into my field of vision, a few hundred yards away and closing quickly. I saw several of the front runners trip and fall as several trainers' pokemon sent crippling strikes to their legs. Among them, I saw a shadow envelop the front legs of a Tauros, causing it to fall face-forward into the ground. I looked back to check the progress of the fire wall, seeing Rufus stopped in front of Ceto, grunting, barking, and pawing the ground. Before I stepped in, he took off, extending the fire wall to the edge of the other trainers' wall.

Ceto immediately sent out a powerful stream of water parallel to the line of fire. I gave a short sigh of relief before turning around again. In that small amount of time, the Tauros covered a large section of the distance between us. However, I could see many of the three-tailed bison pokemon moving perpendicular to the others, some running right into the path of many other stampeding Tauros. Large-scale pile-ups occurred, after which those that could rise up and continue running changed their direction and ran perpendicular to the fire.

Unfortunately, the stampede stretched on very far, keeping us busy for a long time. Many Tauros continued charging past their fallen brethren, gradually closing in on the line of trainers. However, once they were about three hundred feet from us, the ground gave out and the Tauros fell. They emerged from the trench soon after, heading the other way. Many continued into the trench, slamming into the opposite wall. They, too, turned away after their charge had been stopped, but the repetitive crashing turned the dirt on the opposite side of the trench into an incline, allowing Tauros to continue their stampede towards us.

At that point, Azrael had emerged beside me and Rufus had returned. Ceto continued to shoot a geyser of impressive strength at the sides of the fire, and Gilles was still tripping up many bison pokemon. The pokemon taking on the charging Tauros were effective, but five Tauros had broken past, and were on a path straight for us. I raised my bow, bracing myself, and saw many trainers bracing themselves with their pokemon to engage the Tauros in battle.

At my order, Azrael and Rufus rushed forward. I also took aim and shot an arrow into the haunches of a running Tauros, pissing it off more than anything and causing it to lower its horns at me. From the side, Rufus came charging, taking a bite at its front leg and causing it to trip. I shot another arrow at a separate Tauros, this time striking it in the knee and causing it to fall. Its path altered, and with it, my arrow.

I then saw a Tauros charge straight into Azrael, forcing him back several yards before he struck the Tauros in the side and flipped it over. Azrael was left with two deep puncture wounds in his thigh and stomach leaking blood, but he continued to pummel the bison pokemon. I looked past him to see more Tauros reaching my fellow trainers. My eyes widened as I saw a trainer get hit, and I felt a pang of fear for him.

Unfortunately, I could not help him, for I had my own problem, which immediately became pressing. The first Tauros that I had wounded had resumed its charge, straight at me. Rufus had engaged with other Tauros, believing that his attack was enough to divert the charging buffalo, and that left me with no defense.

I saw the bull approaching me twenty feet away, and I raised my bow. My rushing adrenaline challenged my greatly-needed level head as I aimed. The arrow flew from me and embedded itself into the skull of the Tauros, felling it and forcing it to collapse ten feet in front of me. My relief was short-lived, for its momentum continued to carry it in my direction. The seven-foot-tall buffalo slid towards me, my reflection in its eye growing closer and closer. I tried to jump out of the way, but I was too slow. The body hit me hard, its horn impaling the inside of my right thigh.

My leg erupted in pain as I was thrown backwards with the Tauros. With a yell, I fell onto my back. With a fair amount of luck, the stampede had all but petered out by that point. The stragglers were now being diverted or fought, but now I was bleeding profusely, and we were at least a mile from the closest hospital.

I called out for Rufus and Azrael, but once again I was seized by fear as I saw and felt the approach of another Tauros. I could not move out of the way, and when I once again saw my reflection in its eye, Azrael came to my rescue. The Tauros was abruptly thrown to the right as a wave of earth slammed into its side. Immediately afterwards, Rufus arrived, standing in a protective stance over me and exuding heat like a furnace.

"Rufus, I'm going to hold on to you and I need you to pull me off this horn! Quickly now!" I said urgently. Rufus backed up and lowered his head, allowing me to grab ahold of his horns, and started pulling. With a pained groan, I was pulled from the spike, and blood started flowing freely out of my wound. Soon after, Azrael was by my side again, covered in blood, though I am not sure whether it was from him or a Tauros.

I looked to Rufus and said, "I need you to cauterize the wound. Blow a small ember into the hole to stop the bleeding. And for Mesprit's sake, use pure fire! Azrael, give me your claw to bite down on." Azrael extended his arm and I grabbed it, lowering the bloody claw to my mouth. I then nodded to Rufus and bit down onto dragon bone. The next moment yielded more physical pain than I had ever received since I started training.

Rufus blew a small but intense flame into my wound, instantly halting the flow of blood. Afterwards, after screaming like a Loudred, I let go of Azrael's claw, shaking and sweating. I surveyed the area and saw that no more Tauros were rushing towards us anymore, eliciting a sigh of relief. I did, however, hear the pained groans of a Tauros. I looked to the side and saw it on the ground, breathing heavily. From my prone position, I took out a pokeball and hurled it at the injured pokemon. It disappeared into the ball, which twitched for a few seconds before falling still. Then I checked the pokeballs of my team, finding Azrael at 20%, Rufus at 56%, Gilles at 80%, and Ceto at 95%.

I heaved another sigh of relief and allowed myself to fall onto my back, letting my body recover from the vast amounts of adrenaline which had wracked it. I then heard my name being called in a high-pitched and hysterical fashion before Sheila appeared at my side, despite Azrael's booming growl. "OH MY GOD, ARE YOU ALRIGHT!? DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON US!" I tried to calm her down but she grew even more hysterical upon seeing my blood-covered form. Aside from the blood around my wound, I was covered with blood that had rubbed off from Azrael.

"Sheila! I'm alright!" I urged. "Rufus cauterized the wound, so I won't bleed out. Just let me rest for a couple minutes." Her gaze fell upon the wound and she calmed down a bit. "So what's the status of everything?"

Chris spoke up, saying, "The stampede was diverted to the south, but there are some problems. Three trainers are injured. Two of them aren't responding. The two Rangers who were here with us just left with them for the closest hospital, and we've sent out an SOS. Now we are waiting for help. Geez, you got lucky." Chris was sweating and Sheila had streaks of tears under her eyes.

Sheila then said, "Everyone is trying to put out the fires now."

I looked over to Rufus and said, "Go to Ceto and instruct her to start putting out the fires." He yipped and bounded away, leaving Azrael standing beside me. I fell back again, right before I heard the sound of a Tauros' rumble and Sheila scream. Once again, I quickly sat up, though this time, I saw Gilles standing behind Sheila and cackling while she fumed.

"This is NOT the time for that, Gilles!" she screamed. I chuckled and, once again, laid back.

A few minutes later, I asked Azrael to help me up, and he eagerly obliged. I tested my ability to walk, finding it nearly impossible, and retrieved the captured Tauros. Then I looked around to see Ceto returning from a smoky soaked expanse of burnt grass. "Ceto, great job out there! And everyone else, excellent! Rufus, thank you for instructing Ceto. We got through this!"

My pokemon bristled with pride, though Azrael was looking very worse for wear. I withdrew a potion and sprayed it onto Azrael's puncture wound, causing it to slightly heal over but not completely. I used two more potions, healing over the two perforations. I then checked his health to find it at 48%. "That will have to do for now, Azrael, but hopefully you feel a bit better now."

Azrael grunted and then I said, "Alright everyone, the Rangers are on their way here now. While we wait, let's skin this Tauros here, and then you all can eat the remains." I took out my knife and spent about five minutes hastily separating the skin from the meat. There was a lot of flesh still stuck to the skin when I finished, but I had little time before the Rangers showed up. As I started trying to scrape off the larger chunks, Azrael, Gilles, and Rufus started digging into the Tauros corpse. Sheila, who had been standing nearby up to this point, looked aghast that I was immediately working instead of resting.

"Well I don't necessarily approve, but I have the feeling I won't convince you to stop," Sheila said, before sitting nearby with her pokemon. Amidst the sounds of bones crunching and tearing meat, Ceto hovered over to me and observed what I was doing. With a little squeak, she unleashed a pressurized torrent of water onto the skin, blasting chunks of meat away and leaving the hide battered but intact. Ceto moved her jet of water back and forth, clearing off strips of meat like a lawn mower cutting grass.

I looked at her and said, "That is amazing, Ceto! This will be done in no time, now." She gave a happy squeak and continued spraying while I maneuvered around to the other side of the skin. I worked from one side while she worked on the other, expediting the process exponentially. When we were about halfway finished, a group of Rangers descended from the sky, riding Pidgeotto and Fearow.

Sheila waved over a Ranger, who observed my activity and my blood-stained clothing before saying, "Are you really doing this while you're injured?"

"Yes, sir," I replied. "I am taking advantage of the time I have before I am put in a hospital. This corpse will rot if my pokemon do not eat it. Plus, they earned the dinner. As for me, I stopped the bleeding with some fire from my Houndoom. Give me five minutes and I will be finished with this skin." I said as I worked furiously, wanting to finish it.

"Wait! You used Houndoom fire to stop the bleeding!?" exclaimed one of the Rangers.

I needed to stop working long enough to look at the Ranger and say, "I've been teaching him to use as little of his toxins as possible when needed. Don't worry, he only used pure fire, or else I would probably have already started becoming sick." Then I returned to the hide.

"You are either crazy, or one tough and stubborn little bugger," said the Ranger. He watched as Ceto and I finished up the skin, making sure I did not pass out. I rolled up the skin and packed it away before I observed my other pokemon. They had finished off the Tauros for the most part while realizing that their feasting time was limited. I also noticed a large flock of various scavenger bird pokemon such as Murkrow, Wingull, Starly, Staravia, Vullaby, and even a Mandibuzz feasting on the Tauros that had fallen after being trampled by their brethren. I think I even saw a Staraptor.

After I packed up the skin, I praised my pokemon once more, giving considerable mention to Ceto, and then returned them to their respective pokeballs. The Ranger loaded me up onto his Pidgeotto and carried me away, telling Sheila and Chris where to go once they returned to the city. The Pidgeotto ride was the first time I had flown atop a pokemon, and I found it exhilarating. The feel of the wind rushing over my face, the excitement of being above everything else, and the view of the countryside made me excited for the day that Azrael evolved into a Garchomp.

Within ten minutes, I was admitted to the hospital and was undergoing treatment. My pokemon were transported to a Pokemon Center to be admitted as well. The doctor informed me that my decision to cauterize the wound was smart, and that I would need to stay the night. With the help of a Chansey, whose eggs hold incredible medicinal properties for humans, my wound would heal over completely by morning.

In the meantime, my parents were notified and a monitor was brought over to my bedside. My parents appeared on the screen looking worried. "We heard that you were gored by a Tauros! What were you thinking?"

I sighed and said, "I was called upon by the Indigo League to divert a Tauros stampede heading for Cerulean City. Several got through our defenses, one of which was coming for me, and I killed it, but it fell into me. We were successful, though. Oh, I forgot to tell you both that I won the Nugget Bridge tournament!" I said enthusiastically, trying to change the conversation.

My attempt was in vain, for my parents continued to fret until Chris and Sheila showed up. When they did, they helped to explain what happened, though it did little to calm my parents. I looked to Sheila at one point, trying to find something else to talk about, and said, "So Sheila, would you be interested in a Torchic? I caught two of them, and you might need a fire and fighting type for your team."

To which Sheila replied, "Oh sure! But we can take care of that after we get out of here."

I nodded and looked back at the monitor and said, "Father, I caught another fire type today. It's a Torchic, and I'll send it over tomorrow. Are you still okay with me sending you fire types?"

"I know you are trying to change the conversation, but yes, I am still okay with it. The egg hatched a couple days ago, and your mother and I have taken a liking to little Pako," he responded. My mother smiled at the mention of the Numel, and nodded. "Hmm. I'm sure a Torchic will be a great addition as well. As for this," he motioned towards me, "I assume the League is covering the medical expenses?"

I nodded and then gradually brought the conversation to a close. Chris and Sheila left after a couple hours, and I decided to allow myself to relax in the bed. I was brought a small dinner before the same mustached Ranger who gave us our assignment entered the room. He stood beside my bed and said, "Well done, trainer. On behalf of the Indigo Ranger Corp, I would like to thank you for your service in defense of Cerulean City against disaster. We offer you our sincerest condolences for your injuries, and will cover any expenses for said injuries."

He then shifted and cleared his voice before saying, "Now that the formal 'thank you' is done with, I'd like to congratulate you on your success with team Alpha. I heard that you originally thought of the fire wall?" he asked. Before I could respond, he continued, "It was a very good deterrent, and we were lucky to have you out there."

Before he could leave, I said, "Will you tell me what caused the herd to stampede?"

The Ranger captain then said, "It was the Charizard, Serelath, from the peaks of the Jagged Crag. She came over to hunt and scared the herd when she made her kills. Leader Holmes and my Rangers were able to keep Serelath from flying any closer, so the city is safe for now." He then left.

Serelath is one of the few wild Charizard widely known about. Though she is wild now, she was once an Elite Four member's pokemon, and had flown back to the wild after her master passed on. Since such creatures are so powerful, they are generally left alone. They create problems, but it is considered inhumane, unethical, and unwise to hunt them down simply because they create domino effects. They do not normally attack the cities, but they can frighten other pokemon into creating problems for the metropolises. Many a trainer has attempted to catch creatures of that caliber, but have died in the process.

Serelath, in particular, holds her domain in the rocky peaks over the Rock Tunnel, and considers most of the eastern mountain range and prairies of Kanto to be her territory, as well as some of the eastern coast. At least we did not have to defend Cerulean City against her…

Later, after I had been released from the hospital, I found out that one of the injured trainers had died that day. The other remained in critical condition for several days before he made a full recovery and continued on his journey.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I left the hospital with a new scar on my thigh, which was about two inches wide, around which a host of burn scars checkered the skin. When I was able to retrieve my pokemon and leave the city, I found that Azrael had two scars on his stomach to match mine. I congratulated all of my pokemon again, showed them my scar, and then made plans to continue to Vermillion. First, though, I decided to put the captured Tauros into long term storage. I figured that, at the very least, I could use it as a meal for my pokemon. I could even give it to my father once we re-opened the reserve. I then stopped at a PokeMart Inc. to buy some stronger potions and more pokeballs.

We headed onto Route 5 planning to drill in the morning and travel during the day. However, our plans were subverted by reality, and we were forced to partake in the culture of the Big Four routes.

We had begun traveling along Route 5 before noon, and before we had gone a mile, I was challenged five times. Chris and Sheila received similar amounts of challenges, and we were all met with success. Our pokemon, however, were quickly learning that this would be a test of their stamina, for they hardly had the opportunity to rest.

Ceto surprised me again, when I commanded her in battle for the first time. Her normal jovial and non-serious demeanor would change in an instant, as if a switch had been released in her mind, and she would became a cold and focused machine. Her attacks hit hard and accurately, and she was able to withstand quite a beating as well. She felled her opponents mercilessly and followed my orders explicitly. Afterwards, her demeanor would change back, and she would squeak with joy. Needless to say, my heart melted the first time and I seethed with pride. Unfortunately for Sheila and Chris, the Torchic we had recently caught had fairly low levels compared to that of their teams. As a result, Sheila and Chris rarely felt comfortable sending them into battle against other trainer pokemon.

After a day of non-stop battling, we gratefully let ourselves rest. We had not come across a single wild pokemon, had all had an average of 20 battles each, and had only traveled about two miles. Route 5 is supposed to be twenty miles long, so I could tell it was going to be a tedious journey.

During the next morning, when I attempted to start drills with my pokemon, we attracted the attention of more trainers, which led to early battles. That day we received even more challenges, and traveled another two miles. I was challenged 32 times, and my pokemon were exhausted by the end of the day. We had not lost a single match, though many of our challengers held tired out pokemon or lower-level pokemon than us, which served to keep my pokemon ahead.

On the third day on Route 5, I added a second loss to my record. After making little progress down Route 5 and being challenged 25 times, an older kid decided he wanted to battle me. The man had a full team of six, the cornerstone of which was an Abomasnow, the evolution of a Snover. They are ice/grass types which evolve at a high level. Overall, his pokemon were much higher level than mine, and after he had beaten me, he showed me that he had five badges; he had recently beaten the Saffron City gym and was heading north to visit his home.

I wish I could say it was a grippingly close battle, but it was not. The man's pokemon vastly outmatched mine, and he showed absolutely no shame in beating my pokemon, despite the fact that his pokemon were so high above mine in level. Azrael and Rufus were able to beat one of his team members, which I guess spoke volumes about my pokemon, but it was a meaningless loss in which a guy sandboxed to win a little money.

It infuriated me to the point where I yelled at him and called him a cheap coward. He simply shrugged and walked off. My pokemon were all between 5% and 13% after that, and I had to use many of my potions to raise them back up. With my pokemon worn out, I had to pass on battles, which earned me a couple threats and derisions. It was a shaming experience which left me livid by the end of the day.

Fortunately, wild pokemon were beginning to become more common, and we could hunt for food. Though we hunted at night, it still allowed me and my pokemon to take it easy while doing something we had come to enjoy. Tracking or waiting for prey was relaxing and allowed us to reflect on the day, while the moments spent felling our meal gave us exhilaration and practice.

Ceto rested while Azrael, Rufus, Gilles, and I hunted, for she was mostly an herbivore. Though she could eat very small fish, we were hard pressed to find any for her. It normally came down to her mashing up vegetation with her water jets, or simply swallowing small pieces of flora or fauna whole. While she rested in her pokeball, we were able to take a few small nocturnal birds and rodents, which were enough to hold us over.

In the morning, my pokemon were feeling a bit better, so we continued on, trying to pick up the pace so that we could reach Saffron quickly. Once we reached Saffron, we could rest and then continue on to Route 6 towards Vermillion. But before then, we had to grind our way down the path ahead of us.

Several days passed like that. Since most of the trainers on Route 5 were those who had recently beaten or were training to beat Katherine Holmes, we held a steady level advantage, which was increasing constantly. It took us eight days to travel twenty miles, trudging through snow, battling until we felt that we could no longer take it, and relishing any chance to relax that we could find.

I do not know how many battles I fought with my pokemon, but I know that I only lost to that one man. When we finally saw Saffron city on the horizon, our paces quickened and our morale soared. After arriving and healing up my team at the Pokemon Center, I checked our progress. I was astounded at how far my pokemon had progressed. Azrael stood at level 37, Gilles and Rufus stood at level 35, and Ceto had reached level 28. With the exception of the Torchic, Sheila's team ranged from level 33 to 29, and Chris's team ranged from 31 to 29. The Torchic were both level 14 at that point. It seems as though battling non-stop and almost never losing had a radical effect on how fast our pokemons' skill raised. It also left our pockets feeling much heavier.

Although I was proud of our progress, my pokemon were exhausted. When I released them in the underground PokeCenter cavern, my pokemon all passed out, despite having been in their pokeballs for the night. Chris and Sheila's pokemon also passed out, choosing to relax for once in the last week. At that point, I snuggled up to my pokemon in a large cozy mound while Chris and Sheila played with their Torchic. I hoped my father was finding the Numel and Torchic I sent him manageable.

After staying for a few hours, Chris led us into Saffron City to where his family lived. Chris's parents were very nice and gave us a home-made dinner. Their house was about the size of my parent's current home, and when I inquired about their professions during dinner, Chris's father Karl answered, "I work with resources management for the Saffron Ranger Corp. Basically, I'm a glorified accountant."

Chris's mother Janice chuckled and added, "He's more than that. He's just being humble. I'm a teacher of Pokemon biology at the East Saffron High School." As she talked, a Donphan snored by the fireplace next to a Medicham. "Anyway, we watched your matches on LeagueWatch, and I gotta say, your Gabite is one fearsome creature. How in the world do you keep him under control?" she asked.

"It's not that difficult, really," I replied. "We have a common understanding that works for both of us, and we respect each other."

"I'm not sure how you managed to get a dragon to respect you at your age, but if that's the case then well done!" said Karl. Janice nodded in agreement and then continued to chat with us throughout the dinner. Afterwards, we all thanked them for their hospitality, and we made plans to continue on to Route 6 the next day.

However, while we were loafing in the PokeCenter lounge and watching LeagueWatch, we received a tip that the Saffron City gym leader, Johnathan Kay, was being challenged. His gym wasn't being challenged; he was. Gym leaders' league teams were hardly ever challenged, and when they were, the fights were spectacular.

Trainers will sometimes move on to other leagues when they finish winning badges in their country's league. After that, they might start challenging either the Elite 4, or their countries' gym leaders, personally. Since gym leaders are required to have beaten the Elite Four, and to have done so with at least three pokemon of the gym type for which they apply, they offer a significant and specialized challenge. The gym leaders' original teams are often referred to as their league pokemon, or their Elites.

The point of taking that path in training first is to prepare for the Elite Four, and eventually, the Champion. Even though few trainers ever get the chance to challenge the Champion, the Champion still grows stronger over time. The Champion's challengers are always expert pokemon trainers, and they boost the Champion higher with every defeat.

Because of this, the Elite Four and the Champion slowly, but constantly, grow stronger. That is another reason why I did not want to rush the circuit in a year; beating the champion takes years of training, and trying to do it in one year is damn-near unheard of. Yet trainers continue to try, attempting to emulate the legends of those who have.

In the end, it took no cajoling to convince us to buy a 250Pb ticket to see the fight. We stayed another day to witness the predicted epic battle taking place at the level to which we aspired.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Due to the necessary field size requirements for a battle between pokemon of that caliber, the inside of the gym was collapsed and reconstructed such that every inch of the gym building was used. The enormous gym was now one giant battle field. The stands wrapped around it entirely, and showed us a field over 1,000 feet in length and 600 feet wide.

The bleachers were also protected by a company of Kadabra and Alakazam with a perpetual light screen and barrier between them and the field. Behind the barriers, the stadium was packed as densely as possible. So many people wanted a chance to see a battle of this scale, and the government would not turn down the amount of money it was making for just one event.

We arrived an hour early to stand in line for half-an-hour. Soon after we reached our seats, an intricate and formal ceremony began. Johnathan Kay entered the field from the far end and miniscule cameras zoomed in on his face, displaying it upon gargantuan screens. The challenger had made his way to the center of the field, which consisted of plain grass and a few small ponds.

The ceremonial music ended and the cameras zoomed out to observe the field. In an instant, after a flourish, Johnathan disappeared. He reappeared right in front of the Challenger, causing him to flinch. The stand erupted into a roar of approval immediately after, and Johnathan Kay shook the challenger's hand. He teleported once more, back to the other side of the stadium where he took his place.

The crowd roared in approval of Leader Kay's exhibition, and my little group gasped as well. If Leader Kay was actually teleporting on his own, then his actions would be justification for the rumors around personal evolution.

The challenger, whose name appeared on the large screens as Phillip Karney, released an Exeggutor which teleported him to his side of the stadium. After a few minutes, the noise in the stadium died down in suspense.

The two contestants faced each other. One of the screens was split in two; one half showing a close-up of Leader Kay's face, and the other showing a close-up of Phillip. As soon as a referee's signal was sounded, Leader Kay's face changed. Physically, nothing was different, but everyone in the stadium could see that something had changed. The way his terse smirk shifted; the way he held himself in stature; and most significantly, the way his eyes burned. I could feel the sadistic joy and power behind his smile from hundreds of feet away, and it was terrifying.

Phillip released a Scizor, the metal-plated evolution of Scyther, and Leader Kay released his Elite Houndoom, Kale. They both started moving quickly, though the Scizor was blurringly faster. It was obviously trained to be quicker than normal, for Scyther were bound by heavy a heavy metal carapace. From Kale came a serious of projected spheres of fire which shot at the Scizor and exploded upon impact with… the ground. The highly-powerful flame blasts could not hit the metal bug, since it changed direction too quickly. It proved adept at avoiding the attacks.

After a serious of missed flame blasts, the Houndoom suddenly stopped still. It waited as the Scizor zigzagged toward him, and when it came close enough, the hound exploded in fire. The inferno engulfed the entire area around him out to 200 feet, giving the bug pokemon nowhere to go. The Scizor shrieked as it burned, loud enough for us to hear in the stands, and was returned immediately. Curiously, in the exact second that the bug was recalled, the Houndoom was as well.

Phillip's face on the screen was abnormally sweaty, and he soon released an Infernape, a third-tier evolved fire monkey. At the same time, Leader Kay released his Elite Starmie, Siren. The Infernape tried to get in close to attack, but the Starmie hovered away, releasing enormous jets of water in pulses. The Infernape was quick, but Siren's hydro pumps were faster, blasting him over and over again. Those that missed the Infernape left several-foot-long impressions in the ground.

Eventually, the trainer recalled his pokemon, Leader Kay doing so as well, and at the exact same time. It was as if the match was choreographed; as if Leader Kay knew exactly what was going on inside the challenger's mind. He is the psychic-type gym leader… I thought.

The challenger released another pokemon at the same time as Leader Kay. A large blue dragon with red wings stood on the field before it took flight with a bloodcurdling roar, in front of Leader Kay's Elite Gardevoir and starter, Miserie. The crowd roared in admiration of Leader Kay's starter.

As soon as the challenger's Salamence took flight, Miserie's eyes lit up in a brilliant blue glow and raised her hand towards the dragon. The Salamence stopped in mid-air and hurtled back to the ground backwards. It hit the dirt with a whumph, causing the stands upon which we sat to vibrate, and then rose up again. It then slammed back into the ground over and over again. The sadistic pure psychic fairy wordlessly and emotionlessly slammed the dragon into the ground with its mind, not allowing the dragon to do anything to defend itself. After a minute passed, the challenger recalled his Salamence and forfeited.

The audience applauded deafeningly before the league matches resumed. Since the gym was already altered to a larger arena, it made no sense to call off the scheduled gym battles. All three of us left, however, not caring about the league standard battles. We all moved in silence, back to the PokeCenter. Leader Johnathan Kay was an example of pure power; an example of how trainers change with their pokemon. I had no doubt that there had been a second battle raging inside of the challenger's mind, and his internal loss led to the gym leader knowing exactly which pokemon would be sent out, as well as its intended strategy.

It was daunting. In fact, "daunting" was an understatement much like simply referring to Azrael's mother as tough. The adjective did not do our emotions justice. If we wanted to be successful, not only would we have to beat a terror such as Leader Kay, we would also have reach that level of power ourselves. That realization was scary and pulled me into reality. To win, I would need to become more than just a trainer; I would need to become a monster myself.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gabite

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Horsea

**Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Kara – Roselia

Larry – Flaaffy

Lady – Ledian

Shade – Kirlia

Charlie – Torchic

**Trainer: Christopher Johnson; KA592SA230**

**Pokemon in Possession:**

Pierce – Zoroark

Rey – Psyduck

Jade – Ariados

Shiro – Torchic

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's note: Hey everyone, I'm back. So I know that I said that I was only going to take time to refine the first couple chapters. But after having done so, I decided to refine all of them! Good news though, I'm back to writing new chapters instead of revising old ones. Also, one important detail: I will be changing the name of this fiction to "Sacrifice and Subjugation" upon my release of chapter 12.

Well I hope this chapter entertains you as much as it entertained me; the gradual shift upwards in epic-ness of the MC's pokemon, epic battles between giants, romantic tension, and little scares to keep you on your toes! See you next time.

I have also added something to make it easier to keep track of the names and levels of the party's pokemon, with respect to Thaumologist's review.


	12. Chapter 12: Electricity and Criminality

Chapter 12

It truly was long ago; not physically, nor temporally. It was long ago for me, mentally. Though my goal and passion to become the best has stayed in the forefront of my vision, my perspective has changed more times than I care to remember. Witnessing the challenge in Saffron City marked the point in my journey when I started to see myself, and what I wanted to become, differently.

I stand up and stretch my restless muscles. Who knew these ceremonies and buildups were so damn long and boring? My companion seems to share the sentiment as the room heats up more than ten degrees in a matter of seconds. Perhaps my discontent is rubbing off on him. Calm. I'm past that…

The muffled cheering has not died down in the slightest. The heat in the room has rapidly become sweltering, so I walk over to the water faucet against the wall to slap water onto my face. The liquid is cool and I immediately feel more relaxed, though the heat in the room does not leave. I look up to the mirror above the tap and see groomed and spiked dark brown hair and groomed dark brown stubble. The water runs down my face, reaching the indented line that mars my right cheek and travels down to my neck.

I sigh and shower more water upon my face. 'This is a world of monsters', passes through my head and I look into the eyes of my reflection. Greyish hazel eyes look back at me, almost tauntingly. What? You can't deal with a little tension? Do something about it. Or sit your ass down and chill out. Dark maroon eyes loom behind my shoulder, peering at me through the reflection. In a split second, the maroon irises turn a pitch black that covers the eyes entirely. Before I know it, my eyes have changed to match his, and I am hit with a burst of adrenaline.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

On the morning after the Saffron City Leader challenge, I met with Sheila and Chris in the PokeCenter lounge. As we were looking at our calendars in the warmth of the building, Sheila suddenly started crying. Chris and I were bewildered and enquired as to why. "Don't you all realize it?" she asked between sniffles. "We missed the Winter Solstice celebration AND the New Year's celebration!"

Chris and I were taken aback. We had indeed missed it while we were on Route 5. It was almost an entire week after New Year's; we must have been so focused that it did not even occur to us. There was not much to say at that point. After all, we could not turn back time. We once again put off leaving for Vermillion for another day so that we could respect the holiday season with alcohol and warm spirits.

During the day, I checked my PokeDex for messages for the first time since Cerulean, and found a message from my parents wishing me happy New Year's. I ended up calling them and wishing them a happy belated New Year's and informed them of our progress. We celebrated at a local pub called The Machop Shot, but Sheila and Chris did not feel festive enough to go crazy with it. It was not much of a holiday season for us, and it honestly felt disappointing. However, we sucked it up and continued on.

Before we left Saffron City, I thought for a while on the supplies we ought to bring, and I voiced those thoughts to Sheila and Chris. The main difference between Route 5 and Route 6 was the caliber of competition. The trainers competing on Route 6 would either be training for the Vermillion City gym or the Celadon City gym, which were at my badge level and higher, respectively.

In other words, the competition would be much more difficult. For that reason alone, I suggested that we overstock on potions with stronger potencies. From our winning streaks on Route 5, we had each amassed a significant amount of cash, which would be put to good use on potions. Also, if our journey past Route 5 was any indication of our impending passage through Route 6, then we would need to purchase travel food for our pokemon and ourselves. Although we were able to hunt at night, we only ever caught enough food to barely get by. If anything, the products of our hunts could be viewed as supplements.

Chris and Sheila both agreed with me on each of my suggestions, so we stocked up on potions and food before setting out onto Route 6. My prediction about the level of competition was quickly proven correct within our first few fights. Instead of crushing our opponents for the most part, Sheila, Chris, and I found ourselves competing in fairer battles. I was forced to use my potions much more often than I had on Route 5, and they were used up quickly.

Despite the difficulty of our competition, the strain held some benefit for my pokemon. As pokemon progress to higher levels, the amount of experience in fighting and survival required to raise their level also increase, making it more difficult for them to rise to the next degree. As such, my pokemon were beginning to slow in their ascent. However, as a result of my pokemon finding more evenly-matched fights, they grew stronger almost as quickly as they had on Route 5. Furthermore, since they were forced to push themselves harder and win consistently, they could continue to rise more rapidly than their peers.

At first glance, one would find it beneficial and even fortunate that their pokemon could grow in strength so fast, but I started to wonder if there were any adverse side-effects for rapid leveling. My trepidation only grew as we progressed along Route 6, though I kept my thoughts to myself.

Sheila and Chris tried to train their Torchic more often, in order to raise them up to the competency of their teammates, but they tended to be much lower in level than their opponents. I also chose to use Ceto more than my other pokemon at first, until she became closer in level, and I was able to boost her up within a couple of days. Overall, it took us twelve days to traverse the fifteen miles to Vermillion City.

On our second day of southward travel along Route 6, our group was approached by a couple who challenged us to a double-pokemon battle. Both the guy and the girl seemed to be a year or two older than myself. When they hailed us for a challenge, the girl asked, "So which one of you wants to sit out? This is double battle; not a triple."

Chris, Sheila, and I looked at each other before Chris said, "I'm going to sit this one out. I want to give my pokemon a rest." He had almost lost his previous match, and his pokemon were fairly worn out.

"Alright then, so you two!" the girl yelled cheerfully. I looked to Sheila and she smiled.

"Ok," she whispered, "I'll use Kara and you use Ceto." I nodded in agreement; I had never fought with a teammate.

At our mark, all four of us released our pokemon. Ceto hovered in front of me, Kara stood in front of Sheila, a Mr. Mime stood in front of the guy, and a Breloom bounced in front of the girl. With a second of quick thinking, I told Sheila, "Paralyze them or put them to sleep. Take out the Mime first." Then I looked to Ceto and said, "Ceto! Smokescreen."

Sheila called to Kara next, saying, "Stun spore!"

Our opposing team of two then said, "Light screen! Stun Spore!" The Mr. Mime brought its white hands up and a bubble shimmered around the Breloom. The Breloom brought its tail around and flung spores at Ceto and Kara, who was flinging spores back at the two opponents. Ceto was also busy filling the air with black smoke.

Since everyone was remaining stationary, they were all hit by the spores, leaving them struggling to move. Luckily for Ceto, I had been training her, along with my other pokemon, to resist them. Although all of my pokemon had developed a strong resistance to the spores by now, they were not immune, so she had to hurry and knock out her opponents before the spores could have an effect. Kara, ironically, had less of tolerance towards her own spores because she never had to endure the effects.

Kara still moved quickly forward and let out a long whistle. While she did so, the Mr. Mime cast reflect upon the Breloom, creating another overlapping barrier which engulfed the Breloom. Shortly after, it received a blast of scalding hot water to the head, causing it to soundlessly writhe in pain. The Breloom was affected by the spores and, while it tried to charge Kara, it ended up freezing in place instead. It then fell asleep upon hearing Kara's whistle.

We now had a small amount of time to take care of the Mr. Mime before its partner awoke. "Ceto! Scald again, and then twister!" I ordered. The Mr. Mime then cast a light screen upon itself before it was hit by some magical leaves from Kara and Ceto's scald.

At Sheila's command, Kara threw out some briars and then resumed flinging her sharpened leaves at the Mime. After shooting boiling water onto the Mr. Mime, Ceto sucked in air and then released a gust that transformed into a small vortex. Unlike the flying-type move Gust, Twister is a dragon-type technique whose winds are much faster and dense. The technique condenses the wind into a quasi-physical, spinning battering ram which can cause great harm to those that get in its way.

The small, dense tornado slammed into the Mr. Mime, causing its light screen to flicker, and propelling the mime pokemon backwards. However, the Mr. Mime released some magic leaves right before the twister hit, and they embedded themselves into Ceto's hide, causing her to cry out in pain. Unless I found a way for her to evolve into Kingdra, Ceto would be weak to grass-type moves, like Magic Leaf, as well as electricity.

Ceto continued to throw small tornados at the Mr. Mime while Kara giga-drained it. Throughout the entire time, the Breloom slept and its spores festered. The Mr. Mime managed to send a purple beam at Kara twice, hitting her and causing her poisonous veins to coagulate. They were beams of pure psychic energy, which disrupt and alter the cellular and physical composition of poison and venom molecules. Since Roselia have poisons running through their bodies, the Psybeams had a significant impact on her. She managed to stay conscious, though, as the Mr. Mime was finally knocked out from Kara's and Ceto's dual attacks.

Seconds after the Mr. Mime fell, it was recalled and Ceto blasted the Breloom with a twister. Kara released vines from her roses which plunged into the soil, and she started sucking nutrients from the ground to speed up her healing processes. The battering twister jolted the Breloom awake, and it started running towards Ceto, though it was visibly have trouble doing so, due to the spores that wracked its body.

Ceto continued to blast it with twister after twister, though it grew closer until it swung its tail around, creating a shockwave that battered Ceto. Ceto, I could see, was finally starting to feel the effects of the spores, because her attacks were slowing, and the power of her twisters was suffering. Kara stayed where she was and started flinging magic leaves at the Breloom in the meantime. The Breloom launched several forceful attacks, but Ceto's skin was tough. As the Breloom froze up again, it was subjected to more unrelenting attacks from Ceto and Kara, finally resulting in it passing out.

As the Breloom lost consciousness, Ceto disappeared in a bright flash of light. As the light diminished, Ceto's form emerged, four feet tall. She retained her deep green color, but her scales were now thicker, larger, and sharper. She had large ridges on both sides of her head, and her fins were now larger and jagged. I could even see her front scales leaking a clear liquid which I knew to be potent venom. She had evolved into a Seadra and I was ecstatic.

"Great, Ceto! You look amazing! Good job!" I cheered, and then returned her. The remaining pokemon on the field were returned and the couple took out another pair of pokeballs. This time, I looked to Sheila and said, "Use Larry and I'll use Azrael. Larry's Thunderwave won't affect him." Sheila nodded and we both released our pokemon.

The couple released a Nidorino and Nidorina. The three-and-a-half-foot-tall purple and blue rhino-like pokemon were covered in barbs that glistened with venom. They immediately charged and Azrael sent a massive wave of dirt to intercept them. The wave was wide; made in such a way that it would hit both pokemon. However, since the wave was wider, it was also thinner, and the Nidorina plowed through, though significantly slowed down. The Nidorino, however, could not break through, and was thrown back and buried.

Larry followed up by sending out a wave of electricity that passed harmlessly over Azrael's scales but hit both of the opposing pokemon. I then yelled, "Azrael, continue bulldozing! Don't hit either of them directly; they have venomous barbs that can easily poison you." Azrael rumbled his affirmative and continued. Larry started sending multiple bolts of lightning at his closest opponent, keeping his distance.

Just like that, Azrael kept the Nidorino and Nidorina at bay with his bulldozes and kept them from progressing too close. Larry shot multiple lightning bolts as well, which damaged them from his distance. Within a couple of minutes, both of the opposing pokemon lay unconscious. Larry then surprised us all by bursting into yellow light. He emerged as a four-and-a-half-foot-tall yellow, bipedal pokemon with black stripes on his tail and long neck. He had a red orb on his head and on the end of his tail, a single gray toenail on each feet, and thin but wide arms. One of his arms was shorter than the other, remaining a permanent reminder of his Ursaring attack.

Sheila squealed and ran over to Larry, drawing him into a tight embrace and laughing. The couple was not as cheery; they had just lost the battle and were required to give us our monetary earnings. Two evolutions in one battle, one of which was a third evolution – it was an amazing coincidence.

Nine days passed and we were immersed in battling. On the eighth day, even though we used our potions only when we needed to, all of us had run out. As a result, we had to rest longer, which slowed us down significantly. I had to hunt alone so that my pokemon could heal, and on the tenth day, I ran into some trouble while searching for prey.

Armed with my bow and my hunting knife, I had already snagged a few Rattata and Buneary. They hung from the thin length of rope I carried on my shoulder as I walked back to camp. I walked along a game trail in a particularly heavy-wooded area until I reached a small clearing. I carried a flashlight, but lately I had not been using it as often. I found myself capable of seeing fairly well in the moonlight, and as a result, I chose not to waste the batteries.

As I entered the clearing, two silhouettes emerged from the tree line on both sides of me, each turning on a flashlight. When the lights hit my eyes, I was forced to squint as the sudden influx of light was slightly painful. One of them said, "Alright, what have we here?" The other followed up with, "Looks like someone's lost. You know what happens when people get lost around here?" The other voice then said, "They lose their money, their clothes, and their pokemon. Speaking of, you can give us your pokeballs now. And don't even think of releasing them," he threatened. I heard the sound of metal sliding over metal as he drew a knife.

By this point, they had approached me, and I could see their faces past their torches. One had a bushy beard and the other was clean shaven. "I hate to break it to you guys, but I don't have any pokemon on me. They're back at my camp with my friends. I don't even have any money on me; I just got done hunting for dinner."

"Oh that's a pity. But why would a trainer not take his pokemon with him in the dead of night? I think you're lying," the one on my left said.

"Search me if you don't believe me," I challenged. It was cold out and I decided that I was not going to let these guys take my clothing. Plus, there was no telling what they would do if they did not get what they wanted. I would be free to tell the Rangers if they let me go, and they probably knew that.

"I think that's exactly what we'll do. Drop the bow or get cut!" the same guy ordered. I acquiesced and released my weapon. It clattered onto the ground and I spread my arms. The guy with his knife drawn kept the weapon readied while the other reached toward my belt. I spied an undrawn bowie knife at his belt, along with two pokeballs.

As soon as his hand touched me, I quickly grabbed the guy's knife and drew it out of its sheath, bringing it up and slicing his arm with the same motion, making him drop his flashlight. I then brought the knife down just as quickly, cutting his leather belt and causing his pokeballs to fall onto the ground. When I moved, the other man lunged towards me, but I jumped straight up, brought both of my legs to my chest, and kicked out into his center of mass. His knife managed to nick my shoulder, but my evasion limited his attack to the fabric of my jacket.

The struck man flew backwards and landed on his back, dropping his flashlight, while I landed on mine. I rolled backwards and grabbed my bow, dropping the knife. These series of events passed by quickly, and I even surprised myself with the speed of my reactions. Time was moving slowly for me, and I was able to take in the entire situation in the dark. I felt at home in the dark, and it made me more confident.

Due to the fact that I kept my shells in loops on the cuffs of my jacket, it took no time to find one, retract it, and notch the arrow onto my bow. From my crouched position, I saw the first assailant cradling his arm and searching the ground for his pokeballs in dark. The other was rising, so I fired an arrow into his right arm, making him drop his knife. I then drew another arrow and shot the other man in his non-wounded arm.

The assailant I had dropkicked stood up and made a grab for a pokeball, so I picked up his partner's knife, and then threw it at him. Whereas I had no practice throwing knives, I did have practice throwing baseballs, and I was able to impact the man on the forehead. The knife hit broadside, so it cut the man, but it was not a deep wound. It left him stunned for a couple seconds as I notched another arrow and shot him in the kneecap.

He let out a scream and fell to the ground. The other man took that moment to kick me in the side, hard. I fell to the side, dropping my bow, and drew my own knife. He continued towards me to stomp down on my head, but I rolled toward him, dodging his clomp and situating myself between his legs. I brought my knife upwards, slicing him across his right thigh. When he flinched, I rolled back to another crouch.

I then moved towards him and physically shot in low for a leg, grabbing his left and bringing it up to my chest. I used my foot to sweep his only grounded leg, and he fell to his back. Though he fell, I kept ahold of his leg and sliced the back of his ankle, severing his Achilles tendon. Amidst his pained shrieks, I found his pokeballs. I looked to his partner and found him writhing while holding his leg.

I put the pokeballs in my pocket and made a move to the guy with the injured knee. Just then, a pokemon appeared in front of me. The light came from the prone man's pokeball, and I dived past it before it could become oriented. Before it could do anything, I had positioned myself behind its trainer and placed my blade at his neck. "Recall your pokemon, now! If it makes a move towards me, I will cut your throat!" I threatened furiously.

Now that I was looking at it, I identified the pokemon as a Nuzleaf, the grass/dark pokemon. It made a sudden move, and I broke skin on my assailant's neck. Immediately the Nuzleaf disappeared into its pokeball as its trainer said, "O-ow! Ok, ok!"

"Hands up, asshole!" I yelled. He complied and I took his pokeballs. I then took out my PokeDex and called the emergency hotline. The Ranger told me he was on his way, and not to move because he would be tracing my Dex. Around three minutes later, I heard a roar and I felt the ground shaking. Soon after, Rufus darted out of the forest, glowing red, and stopped in front of me, baring his teeth at the two prone criminals. I could still hear Azrael's roar in the distance and could still feel him approaching. One minute later, he came stomping out of the woods, and he saw Rufus standing over one of the assailants.

When he reached me, he made a move to rip apart one of the people, but quickly stopped him. I then said to both him and Rufus, "Well, you guys are a bit late, you know? But thanks anyway," I laughed. "I'm fine, and the Rangers are en route. How did you even know I was in trouble?" Rufus whined and Azrael grunted. "Hmm, so you could both sense something was wrong, then?" For some reason, I knew exactly what they were trying to say to me, despite not speaking their languages.

"Well, just keep watch over them until the Rangers arrive," I directed. Azrael stood over one while Rufus stood over the other. I crouched over both of them and retrieved my arrows, ripping them painfully from their wounds. I also took my assailants' knives and set them to the side with my hunted pokemon. After about ten minutes, two Rangers descended into the clearing atop a Fearow and a Pidgeotto.

They approached us with flashlights and released an Arcanine and an Arbok before ordering, "Return your pokemon, trainer."

I replied, "Well you see, their pokeballs are back at my camp. My pokemon ran here when they sensed I was in danger." Azrael's lip curled and he started growling.

"Then order them to get back!" one of the Rangers ordered.

I looked to Azrael and said, "Back up to the tree line, please." I then looked to Rufus and repeated myself to him. They both complied and backed up. The Rangers' pokemon were not recalled and watched my pokemon warily.

"So these are the crooks who assaulted you?" one asked. I replied yes, and one of them said, "Seems like this is not the first time you've turned someone in," while looking at his Dex.

"What can I say? I guess bad people are drawn to me," I said facetiously. I could see his eyes roll.

"Well let's see what we can find out," he sighed. The other Ranger piped in, "You really messed these guys up. Did they have pokemon on them?"

"Yeah. One of them released a Nuzleaf but I made him return it. Here are both of their pokeballs," I said, handing them over. One of the Rangers accepted them and linked them to his Dex.

From there, the Rangers discerned the location of my attackers' camp with the help of a Snubbull. It tracked where they had come from with its powerful sense of smell, and the Rangers found a cache of stolen pokeballs, clothing, and other belongings. With that kind of evidence, I was let of the hook and told to keep up the good work. I then made my way back to camp.

When I arrived, Ceto was hovering near the outskirts of the camp, and Gilles was floating thirty feet above the fire. Sheila and Chris looked frightened and alert as we entered the area, and both rushed over to me, leaving their pokemon behind. "What happened!? Azrael and Rufus just took off all of a sudden, and Ceto and Gilles got defensive. Are you alright?" asked Sheila.

"Yeah. Two guys attacked me with knives and I defended myself. Azrael and Rufus were a little late, but I was able to hold my own," I said, trying to play it off as a trivial inconvenience. But Sheila was not having it.

"Are you serious!? Don't act like this isn't a big deal! You could have been hurt really badly or killed!" she said in her hysteria.

"But I wasn't! I'm fine. I just want to eat what I caught and get some rest. Can you help me?" I asked, desperate for her to calm down.

"How do you manage to get into trouble so often? Ugh! I'll help you but you need to be more careful!" she said, exasperated.

I sighed and looked at Chris. He looked just as concerned, but he did not voice it. He simply clapped me on the side and said, "Take someone with you next time, even if it's one of our pokemon."

I sighed and said, "Fair enough," before sitting down to clean my kills.

Later, along Route 6, if my pokemon were too exhausted to battle, I allowed Chris's Zoroark to accompany me. He was calm and composed for the most part and never showed any distaste for my hunting methods. The night passed and we continued our trek in the morning.

Battle after battle we fought, and foe after foe we dropped. I must have battled another hundred or so trainers. Interestingly, I noticed that the majority of trainers we came across were my age or older. It is probably because many people get hung up at the earlier gyms and have to spend time training in order to raise their teams to the necessary level.

I lost three battles on that trek. All of them occurred in the final three days, and all of them were due to the extreme exhaustion that my pokemon felt. Sheila lost a couple more than I and so did Chris, but we all held very impressive win-loss ratios. As a result, our pokemon collectively saw another large jump in aptitude.

By the time we reached Vermillion, Azrael had reached level 40, Rufus had reached level 38, Gilles had reached level 37, and Ceto was level 35. Sheila's team ranged from level 36-30, not including her level 20 Combusken, since evolved from her Torchic. Finally, Chris's team ranged from 33-25, including his Combusken.

By that time, I started noticing some disconcerting traits of my pokemon. They had jumped in level so fast that their fighting techniques were suffering. From what I had researched on my PokeDex in the time we spent resting, I knew that at their current levels, Azrael would normally have learned a powerful move called Dragon Rush, Gilles would have learned Dream Eater, Rufus would have learned Embargo, and Ceto would have learned Hydro Pump. However, due to the fact that they had spent so little time learning how to use their current moves, their bodies were more concentrated on becoming proficient with their known moves.

This was the problem with "power leveling" as it has come to be known as. This is the reason that Rare Candies, or PokeRoids, were outlawed. They drive a pokemons' bodies to develop faster than they should, causing the pokemon to learn how to use higher-powered techniques without the necessary control. It is dangerous, and cases have shown that sometimes the pokemon can cause harm to itself by underestimating its own power.

I voiced my concern to Sheila and Chris, and showed them my research. They were also very alarmed at the new information; so much so that Sheila fretted over her pokemon, and even went so far as to claim that she was a horrible trainer.

I knew she was just being melodramatic, and it took little effort on my part to calm her and assure her that she was not a bad trainer; this training method had its benefits and disadvantages. We would be going through the wilderness beyond the routes on the next leg of our journey to make up for shortfalls of the Grinder. It calmed her down for the most part, I guess.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

When we arrived in Vermillion City, we were greeted by the smell of saltwater. Even though it was horribly cold, the ocean breeze was refreshing. The sound of crying Wingull filled our ears, along with the sound of ocean-side industry. Our first task was to check in to a Pokemon Center and schedule our gym challenges. We received our appointments for three days in the future, and relaxed in the food court. At that point, I noticed that all of my clothing had suffered horribly throughout my journey. I made a point of remembering to shop for clothing the next day. Until then, a shower and the PokeCenter sweats were acceptable.

I called my parents and notified them of my gym battle date, and they were happy to hear that I was safe in Vermillion. I also sent a quick message to Aoro Craul, notifying him of my battle. Sheila and Chris followed suit and called their parents to notify them of our progress. For the rest of the day, we lounged. We watched LeagueWatch and the news, but limited our action to activities with low energy requirements, such as observing and commenting on Leader Joyce Vanderstein's battle style.

We came to the conclusion that powerful moves dominated Leader Vanderstein's strategy. She hardly used strictly paralysis-inducing techniques unless her opponent was resisting her pokemons' electric attacks, which already possessed an inherent probability of paralysis. I knew that Ceto would have to sit this one out because she would not last long against electric attacks.

Beyond LeagueWatch, we were all fairly alarmed at current events. According to the news, nonviolent PokeAdvocate protests in front of a Pewter City BioTech warehouse had escalated into a riot. The employees were beaten, and the building manager had gone missing. By the time police reinforcements had shown up to intercede, the manager had been abducted and the crowd had started vandalizing the store's wares.

"Legendaries…" cursed Sheila, quietly.

"No kidding," I added. "Let's watch some more LeagueWatch; this is a little too much for me right now." We all agreed and switched the channel back.

As we studied Joyce Vanderstein's challenges, Chris, Sheila, and I started to mentally prepare. Our battles were three days ahead, but we knew that we needed to have the correct mindset. In the morning, we retrieved our pokemon and went our separate ways for the day. I visited the local Trainer's Trader, BioTech, a trainer outfitter, and the barber. I sold the knives I took from my Route 6 attackers. I bought new pants, socks, underwear, shirts, a jacket, and boots.

I bought the T.M.'s Ice Beam and Surf for Ceto. Surf allows a pokemon to control waves of water, or condense them from the moisture in the air and the surroundings. It also allows a pokemon to carry its trainer over water by creating a perpetual wave on which to ride like a surfer.

I bought the T.M. Flame Charge for Rufus, with which he could cover himself with fire and rush his opponent. I purchased the T.M. Rock Slide for Azrael, which would allow him to raise large rocks into the air and hurl them at his opponents.

And I purchased the T.M.'s Toxic and Venoshock for Gilles. Toxic immediately fills an opponent's veins with poison if it hits, draining its strength. Venoshock will allow a pokemon to fire poisonous, acidic liquid over an opponent. It will also react with any existing poison to increase the technique's effect.

Those T.M.'s drained the remainder of money I had made on Route 5, but I still had the large sum of money I earned while on Route 6, so I did not bankrupt myself. After buying the T.M.'s, I linked them with their respective pokemon and headed to the barber. My hair had grown long and wild over the past couple months, and I had it cut to a length of about two inches with some light styling.

I returned to the Pokemon Center after that, and found Sheila and Chris. Chris had also visited BioTech and an outfitter to change his clothes, and Sheila had also paid for a haircut, but kept her hair long. They were chatting when I arrived and smiled at my presence. When I sat down, Sheila said, "So Chris and I were having a discussion and maybe you can help us with it. Chris seems to think that short hair on women is more attractive than long hair. He says thinks it would be easier to take care of in the wilderness. But I like long hair, even if it is more difficult to take care of. What do you think?"

I felt like it was a loaded question, but I answered truthfully. "I don't have anything against women with short hair, but personally, I prefer longer hair. I like the way it looks." Chris pouted as Sheila smiled triumphantly. Oh well.

After that, Sheila asked me, "Hey, I want to go somewhere but Chris said he wants to laze around here. Do you want to come?"

"…To where?" I asked cautiously.

"It's winter and certain cold-weather ocean pokemon are hanging out on the beaches. I want to go look for a Spheal and it would be nice to have some company," she replied.

"Oh, ok. I guess I'm fine with that," I said. Chris shrugged and continued to lounge on a sofa while Sheila and I departed. We went past city limits so that we could use our pokemon, and we made our way to the shore. While we traveled through the suburbs, I let Rufus walk beside me, and when we reached the shore, I released the rest of my pokemon. Ceto immediately dove into the water, and I noticed how much faster she could move herself now that she had evolved. Gilles hovered overhead and Azrael trudged along in the sand.

After an hour of walking along the beach and circumventing impassable beach formations, we found a large group of pokemon resting on the shore. Seal, Krabby, and various flying sea pokemon littered the shore, but no Spheal, so we moved on. The beach continued to stretch to the south, and we followed it. Most of the time, Sheila remained quiet. She would occasionally bring up a random topic to discuss, but for the most part, we traveled relatively silently.

At one point, after another hour had passed, I actually found myself curious about Sheila's upbringing. I asked her, "Hey, Sheila. How was it growing up in Hoenn?"

"Well, it's a bit colder than here. Especially during the winter, but it was okay. I had a bunch of friends in high school, and my father was really protective. I guess my popularity might have had something to do with my dad being who he is," she explained.

"I wonder what it's like; having a lot of friends," I replied. "My school was small, so there weren't a whole lot of people to choose from. But even then, my parents actively discouraged me from hanging out with students who wanted to be pokemon trainers. The only ones they did not have a problem with were prospective college students and my sports teammates, but I didn't mesh with them."

"Having friends is alright. You didn't have to worry about pleasing a lot of people at the same time. It was nice, but it took a lot of work. …And my grades weren't exactly the best. But I wanted to become a trainer, so grades weren't as important to me."

"How did your father feel about you leaving Hoenn?"

"Well, I didn't really tell him until I arrived in Viridian. He was pretty upset that I didn't tell him. I really should have told him at least, but I didn't want to fight with him. It was kinda the point of leaving, haha," she said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I get that. At least my parents are beginning to support me now. Have your parents started to accept your desire to train yet?" I asked.

"Yes and no. My dad accepts it but he still pushes for me to quit. My mom is pretty supportive, though. I wish dad was more understanding."

"I know what you mean," I said.

"Did your parents ever train pokemon?" Sheila asked me.

"Kind of. My parents never participated in the League, but my father did have the Rapidash breeding business. It's sort of training, but not like this. My mom helped on occasion because she love the stallions," I responded.

"I guess that makes sense," Sheila replied. "Both my mom and my dad trained. My dad lost one of his team in his final match against our fourth Elite, and my mom never made it past the third gym. I don't think your parents really know what training is like, and I think it scares them. Your dad at least has some experience in dealing with pokemon, but your mom doesn't. I can understand why they would be afraid for you."

"I guess so. It was just never an option for them, though. There was no argument about it. I literally had to enter the league behind their backs and catch my own pokemon without them knowing. I realize they just want the best for me, and that includes my safety, but this is my passion."

"I think they're beginning to see that," Sheila said with a smile, looking at me with her bright green eyes. "It's hard not to see for me and Chris. I hate to say it, but even though I beat you when we first battled, I don't think I could do it again. Not now, anyway."

I did not respond, and she continued, "I can see why your pokemon respect you. You join them in training, you put yourself through all kinds of hells that are completely avoidable, and come through in the end. And you've sacrificed things that most people wouldn't. In the end, it's all for one reason, I think; you really do want to be the best," she said with admiration.

"It's more than that," I replied, feeling flattered. "This world is full of people and creatures just trying to survive. Whether that be by working for a living or existing in nature, it's a constant battle for survival. I don't just want to be the best; I want to rise above it all, and I want to bring my pokemon with me. I don't want my dreams to die in the fires of incompetence, for my dreams are shared by my pokemon. I can't let them down, and I know they won't let me down. I know this way of life will change me in one way or another, but it's what I want to do with my life."

Sheila simply smiled without replying. We walked farther down the shore until we came upon another herd of water pokemon. This time, the majority of them were Spheal and Sealeo. There were even a couple Walrein in the group. After some thought, Sheila decided to try to catch a Sealeo because she did not want to train a baby. We had to circle around the herd to find a Sealeo near the edge of the large group, but when we did, Sheila sent Kara forward.

Kara whistled and put it to sleep, accidentally doing the same to a couple Spheal in the direct vicinity. I then had Azrael stomp forward on one side, with Rufus approaching on the other, both blowing fire to scare away the others in order to isolate the Sealeo. It worked for the most part, clearing away many of the pokemon.

Two Spheal remained asleep, and without command, Azrael stopped in front of them and ate them. They were small enough to take two bites each, which made their deaths quick and relatively painless, given that they were asleep. It actually reminded me of the way Kira used to eat Mareep. Sheila had a look of horror on her face, but she continued with her plan.

Kara started to wear the Sealeo down after it woke up, while Azrael and Rufus barred its escape. After a short but tense battle, and two broken pokeballs, Sheila had a new Sealeo for her team. She immediately named it Wilbur after finding out it was male.

I congratulated her and we started our hike back to Vermillion. Azrael grew tired of the walking after a while and nuzzled his pokeball, after which I returned him. Gilles also grew bored, so I returned him as well. Ceto followed in the ocean and Rufus continued to walk at my side. Sheila only walked with Larry and Lady, since her other pokemon wanted to sleep in their pokeballs.

Our conversation on the return journey was not as personal as it was at the beginning, but we still enjoyed ourselves. As we progressed, the sun started setting. At sundown, we were still around an hour from Vermillion, but we did not complain. It might have been cold out, but the company was warm. However, at one point after the sun set, Sheila said, "You know, I'm planning on going home after I beat the gym at Celadon…"

I was quiet for a while. Eventually I said, "I guess I could understand why. I… I wish you would stay, though."

Sheila was quiet for a while, as well, but then I heard her giggle before she said, "You could always come with me. But I don't think you will. I will come back, though. You don't have to worry about that. I started the Indigo league and I plan on finishing it. But after I win my fourth badge here, I will return to beat my dad. And I'll probably go to the next gym to prove that I can beat it. After all, I don't want to look like the fire gym scared me away…"

"Yeah. I wish you luck with that. I can't imagine having to battle my own father… I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too," Sheila responded.

We were quiet for a long time after that, but shortly after Sheila responded, I felt her hand on mine. We walked the rest of the way to Vermillion in the growing darkness, holding hands and relishing the non-stressful time we had.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The gym thundered like a storm while we sat in the waiting room. The lights would occasionally flicker, seconds before another trainer was called in. Rufus sat beside me, as loyal as always; Pierce sat beside Chris; and Kara beside Sheila. This time, my battle would come before Sheila's and Chris's, and I waited in suspense.

The minutes ticked by. Three trainers left; two trainers left; one more. Finally, a gym trainer called my name, and I stood up. Sheila and Chris both gave me thumbs up, and I walked into the arena. The stands were full and the top of the gym was a glass dome. It allowed the sunlight in, and reduced the hazard of electricity frying any overhead lamps.

Joyce Vanderstein stood on the sideline at midfield, waiting for me. She had abnormally yellow-colored hair, which was short and spiked. She wore yellow and black form-fitting leather, and black boots. Her eyes were brown, she was about a foot shorter than Leader Craul, and she was muscular. When I reached her, she held out a fingerless-gloved hand and shook my hand firmly. "Welcome to the Vermillion City gym. Two phases, two potions, two switches. Do not attack me or the crowd unless you want more than 50,000 volts to light you up like a light bulb. Now, link your Dex with mine," she ordered in a different accent than mine or Sheila's.

Her voice was higher in pitch than I would have expected, and she was very methodical. I linked my PokeDex with hers and three pokeballs appeared next to my trainer profile. My trainer profile had also updated to include my gym battle record. It read Victories: 2; Forfeits: 0; Losses: 0. Three appeared next to the gym leader's profile, as well, and she said, "Good luck, trainer. Take your position at the challenger's podium."

I nodded and took my place. The challenger has taken his position! Let's see what he sends out first! As soon as the siren called, I released Gilles. The challenger has summoned a Haunter! What a frightening ghost that is! A large blue and yellow canine appeared in front of Leader Vanderstein. It had spiky yellow fur, a bent tail, and static crackling through its fur. Immediately, I yelled, "Shadow sneak, then hypnosis!"

Gilles shot in, using his shadow to essentially teleport behind the electric hound, and punched it in its haunches. The Manectric immediately turned and bit Gilles with a dark-powered chomp. Gilles screeched, but within seconds, the Manectric was hypnotized in place. "Great! Now back up and send some shadow balls at him!" The ghost has immobilized Leader Vanderstein's Manectric! Let's see what he does next!

Gilles did so, sending powerful orbs of shadow that impacted the Manectric's defenseless body. He shot two in quick succession, and the second one impacted the ground after the Manectric woke up and dodged the ball with impressive speed. At the leader's order, the Manectric spewed a cloud of light brown smoke, which assaulted Gilles and forced him out of his ethereal plane of existence. He continued to send balls of shadow at the electric pokemon, landing one more. His shadow balls were powerful and caused the Manectric's defenses against the attack to lower each time. The Manectric was not finished, however, and rushed Gilles, its speed giving it momentum which carried it through the air.

The Manectric's head crackled with energy as it collided with Gilles' form, sending a physical jolt of electricity coursing through his body. Gilles had toughened up, though, and withstood the hit. The Manectric fell, landing on both feet, but Gilles had already begun his next attack. As soon as the Manectric hit the ground, another shadow ball impacted its back, and it plowed into the ground, unconscious. And the challenger's Haunter is victorious! Those are some powerful shadow moves!

The Manectric was returned, and Leader Vanderstein said through the speaker, "Good job, trainer. Now switch!" I followed her orders and switched Gilles out for Rufus after praising him for a job well done. A metal pokemon that looked like three circular magnets arranged in a floating, vertical triangle appeared before Leader Vanderstein. A Houndoom! Leader Vanderstein is going to have a tough time with this one! Rufus immediately charged towards the Magneton so that he could use his flamethrower.

While Rufus approached, the Magneton sent out a ripple across the field, causing arches of electricity to crackle all over the ground. While Rufus was forty feet away, he sent out a powerful stream of fire that impacted the steel/electric pokemon and caused it to glow red. It responded by sending out a wave of static, causing Rufus's muscles to seize and his body to stop moving. Rufus tried to power through the paralysis, but it took him a little while.

During Rufus's fruitless efforts to move, the Magneton sent out a high-pitched sonic wave, which made Rufus whine and start hitting his head on the ground violently. The challenger's Houndoom seems to be trapped in Leader Vanderstein's combo! How will he escape? Finally, the Magneton sent a powerful bolt of electricity at Rufus, empowered by the electric terrain, and Rufus howled in pain after it hit him with a crack! In that instant, though, Rufus overcame his confusion, and sent another stream of flames coursing over the fire-weak pokemon, and it collapsed. The challenger's Houndoom is victorious! What an impressive display of fire!

"You continue to impress, trainer. Now switch again!" I sent out Gilles again, saving Azrael as my trump card. Leader Vanderstein knew the levels of my pokemon, but not their types, so I could keep him a secret and use him against her phase-two pokemon. Gilles appeared in front of me and the announcer shouted, the challenger has sent out his Haunter, again! In front of Leader Vanderstein appeared an orange rodent with black streaks. It was a Raichu, the evolved form of Pikachu; three times bigger, and hosting a longer, whip-like tail with a jagged, thunderbolt-like tip.

"Ok, Gilles! Shadow Ball!" I yelled. The Raichu was fast; much too fast. The shadow balls hit dirt and grass, missing their intended target, as the electric rodent zoomed across the field. It reached Gilles and sent a wave of electricity coursing through him, identical to the thunderwave sent by the Magneton. Gilles was able to hypnotize the Raichu, in spite of his paralysis, and followed up with another shadow ball.

The ball impacted the Raichu, but it was not taken down. It rocketed back, dividing into three different images, only one of which being the Raichu's true form. As it did so, I told Gilles to hypnotize it again. He did so, and all of the images froze. He sent a shadow ball crashing into one, making it dissipate. He tried to send another, but his nerves seized up and prevented him from letting loose the attack. And finally, he sent out one last orb, hitting another potential Raichu image.

The ball impacted the Raichu and caused it to shudder, revealing it as the real electric rodent. After the second hit, the Raichu started looking worn out, telling me it would probably only take one more hit to drive it unconscious. As Gilles prepared to hypnotize the Raichu, Joyce Vanderstein called her pokemon over. She tossed out a potion, which exploded like a gas grenade at the Raichu's feet, and I could see it become livelier. Crap, she's healing it. Gilles managed to hypnotize it again, and I switched out Gilles for Azrael. The challenger has switched his pokemon out for… A Gabite! What a change of strategy! Looks like the challenger has revealed his secret weapon!

I stomped orders, and Azrael rushed towards the incapacitated Raichu, sending a wave of earth crashing into the stunned gym pokemon. It did not rise from its prone position, and was recalled amidst a thunderous cheer from the crowd. What a spectacular show! This means the trainer advances to Phase two!

"Since you've only used one of you switches, I assume you will be switching your Gabite back in if I tell you to switch him out. Alright then. Good strategy. Prepare yourself now," Leader Vanderstein said, evenly. It was unsettling how calm and emotionless she was.

A yellow and white fox appeared in front of the gym leader's stand. It stood about two and a half feet tall and its fur was spiked in all directions. It was a Jolteon, one of the fastest land pokemon alive. I instantly knew her tactic when she ordered it to speed up. She was going to make it nigh impossible for Azrael to hit, and then wear him down over time.

Not if I can fight back. I ordered Azrael to whip up a sandstorm, and a powerful storm brewed in moments. It immediately took up an area with a forty-foot radius. The Jolteon immediately shot through the storm with a quick attack, and pounded Azrael with its weak slam, and then appeared outside of the growing storm less than a second later, pawing at the particles of sand in its eyes.

The sandstorm grew and it became more violent, picking up rocks the size of golfballs and sending them hurtling throughout the vortex. As the Jolteon sped through the now-eighty-foot-wide storm, it appeared on the other side again, though with a mark of red on its shoulder. If it wants to wage a battle of attrition, then bring it on! As it sped through again, a wave of dirt rushed out from within the storm, missing the electric fox, and crashing harmlessly onto the field. The Jolteon appeared on a different side, with more evidence of battery from the storm.

This happened three times more, until the pivotal moment of the battle; the Jolteon's attack became predictable, and when it rushed in, it was blasted backwards by a powerful bulldoze. I could hear its bones crack and it was returned instantly. The Challenger is victorious! Congratulations! The crowd roared again as I made my way over to Leader Vanderstein.

"Congratulations!" she said energetically. "On behalf of the city of Vermillion, I present you with the Thunder Badge." She placed it in my hand and continued, "You have trained your pokemon well, and know some strategy. I hope to see you again in the future with a formal challenge. Now, proceed to the victor's booth and claim your prize money and T.M. Thunder Wave. Good luck with the remainder of the League!" She clapped me on the back, making me flinch and sent me on my way.

I waited for Sheila and Chris, not surprised when they both emerged victorious. Chris, however, struggled somewhat. To celebrate, we found a hole-in-the-wall bar called Daniel's Pub to enjoy a few drinks without the hassle of a large crowd. We still did not escape a few "congratulations" and looks of admiration, but we were luckily able to end the night without any drama.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

After our gym battle, we contacted the Fighting Dojo and issued a challenge. A couple of days passed and we walked through the doors. Sheila did not intend to participate, but Chris and I strode in with determination. We were greeted by a man clad in a black dobak, with a red and black belt tightly wrapped around his waist.

You two are challengers then? He said, eyeing us up and down.

"Yes, sir," said Chris with enthusiasm.

"Then make your way to mat 1," he replied impatiently.

We continued on to a large area of padded flooring. The floor beneath it was wooden, and the bleachers were as well. We were assigned a competitor, and then told to wait. Chris went first. He was instructed to spar a kid slightly younger than him, while he chose one pokemon to fight. He chose Rey, for fighting-type pokemon are weak against psychic attacks. The rules were simple: two fights at once, and the first contestant to win, pokemon or human, won the match. Also, it was an above-ground match for the pokemon, meaning that ground-type moves were difficult to pull off. I instantly recognized the bias towards fighting types, but held my tongue.

The fight did not last long. The young martial artist kept Chris on his feet while he struggled to command Rey. However, Rey already had his orders, and pummeled his opponent while Chris tried to hold his own. After a few rounds of using the psychic technique called Confusion, Rey mentally slammed his opponent into submission. At the end of the battle, Rey evolved into a Golduck, making it a double-win for Chris. That ended the fight, and Chris was awarded a focus band, which supposedly allows pokemon to remain conscious even after sustaining a hit that would otherwise knock them out.

I was next, and I let Azrael participate. I took my position in front of a martial artist slightly younger than myself. As soon as the battle started, I told Azrael to fight his battle, without direction, but not to destroy the building. I then said, "Race you to victory!" He faced a Lucario, which gave him the type advantage, but the Lucario was much faster, dodging Azrael's claws.

In the meantime, my adversary launched a series of kicks and punches. After getting punched once, I shot in for both of his legs and took him down. My history of wrestling really helped in that fight, and I knew that for a challenger's first attempt, the Dojo assigned beginner martial artists as competitors. Like the Nugget Bridge, you could challenge the Dojo multiple times, each time facing a more advanced opponent. For now, I faced a novice fighter, though he was still a challenge.

After taking him down, I positioned myself over him and started laying into him with my fists. To his credit, my opponent endured my attacks, and rolled to his stomach. From there, I slipped an arm around his neck and started to choke him out. Unlike the sport of wrestling, the Fighting Dojo was much more violent. For instance, I could not punch, kick, or choke out an opponent in competitive wrestling. In the Fighting Dojo, the competition was everything-goes combat. I choked him out before a hand came into my vision and called for me to cease.

My opponent had tapped out, leaving me victorious. I looked over to Azrael and saw that his opponent had been returned, but not knocked out. Soon after, I was told that I won the match before Azrael, and I was awarded a focus band. Later, I teased Azrael that I had beaten him to the win, and he gave me the silent treatment in response. However, even if Azrael was angry about losing the race, I was able to show him that I was not simply falling behind him.

After I collected my award, I was approached by a man with a black belt tied around his garments. He said, "Now that you've beaten stage one, you can challenge again at stage two. There are five stages; the fifth being a challenge to the Dojo Grandmaster, Shaw Tashiro. We institute a mandatory meditation period of one month between each challenge, so please come back when you are ready."

He then bowed to me and Chris before sending us on our way.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

We wasted no time in leaving for Celadon. During our stay in Vermillion, we had had ample time to shop for supplies, leaving us free to depart as soon as we finished at the Fighting Dojo and after our pokemon were healed at the PokeCenter.

We all left the city, taking Route 6 for a mile before we started veering to the west. Multiple trainer challenges were expected, and could not be avoided, but we did not lose any of them. As the trainers grew scarcer, and the snow under our feet grew less disturbed, wild pokemon became more common. Eventually, when we could not see a trainer in any direction at all times, I released all of my pokemon. Azrael, Gilles, and Rufus relished the opportunity to hunt, and pursued such activity with gusto.

Their enthusiasm was lost on my two human companions, though. As we progressed further, the edge of Route 6 loomed closer, wreaking havoc on their nerves. I tried to reassure them, but to be honest, I was slightly nervous myself.

However, unlike my companions, I did not let it dampen my spirits. I could finally get back to the type of training I enjoyed, and nothing could burden my spirits. That is… Except for him.

I heard a Pop! And a figure appeared in front of me. After nearly falling back in shock, and after keeping my pokemon from outright killing the supposed assailant, the person revealed himself. I instantly felt my mood being ruined. Alex stood beside his evolved Natu, a Xatu. It stood as tall as Alex, and Alex gave a somewhat feigned look of shock when he saw me.

"Well this is quite a coincidence. You see, Nero was practicing his teleportation skills and now I'm face-to-face with just the person I wanted to see," he crowed arrogantly.

"Interesting. I don't share the sentiment," I said angrily. "You're lucky that my pokemon listen to me; they just about killed you. I was tempted to let them!"

"Oh, get over it you big baby. I want a battle! This time I won't lose!" he taunted.

"For the love of… When will you get it through your thick skull that I don't want anything to do with you? And if this is going to become a common occurrence, I promise you that you will regret it. I don't tolerate stalkers," I threatened.

"Oooh, I'm scared. Stop pussyfooting around and draw your first pokemon!" he yelled. I let Gilles go first, and he released his Azumarill. Immediately, it was shooting water and ice at him, but the fight did not last long.

I yelled, "Gilles, energy ball!" and Gilles powered up his grass technique. An entire tree nearby wilted before he shot a green translucent orb the size of my head crashing into the water pokemon. The force of the orb had broken both of her arms backwards, and the blue and tan fur on her stomach was blackened. She was immediately returned.

"Gah! Fuck this!" shouted Alex before he released his Skarmory, Apollo. Azrael immediately bellowed with rage, Gilles shrieked at a higher pitch than I had ever heard from him before, and Rufus erupted into furious barking, lighting up like a match at the same time. Sheila, Chris, and I also immediately gawked in shock and outrage upon seeing his pokemon.

It resembled a Skarmory, but with several major differences: it had doubled in size, its eyes were bloodshot, its body was so buff that it looked painful, and it was screeching crazily. It looked exactly like the Golbat that had killed Raeda.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" I yelled. "IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE?" Chris and Sheila were all yelling similar reprimands. Alex just looked bewildered at our reactions and sent his pokemon in anyway.

"Stop trying to get away from this battle!" he yelled, and Azrael charged forward, sending a powerful wave of dirt at the Skarmory. It burst through the center, but Azrael did not slow his charge. They clashed, and this time Azrael was the one to falter, even though he was so much larger than the metal ostrich.

Apollo attacked with such fervor that Azrael was almost overpowered. It was as if it did not feel pain, or fear for its wellbeing. It simply attacked desperately. Azrael blew fire in its face, melting some of it off, but it powered into Azrael, knocking him off balance and driving him backwards. He eventually fell to his back, and Apollo kept running… Straight at me.

"Apollo! Get back to the fight! What are you doing!?" yelled Alex, but I did not hear him. I saw the crazed monstrosity growing closer and looking at me with the same eyes that killed Raeda. I froze.

Luckily for me, Rufus, cloaked in a raging fire, slammed into the side of Apollo, throwing him to the ground. He then started to breathe a steady line of fire onto the bird's prone body. It did not stay down for long, though. It launched itself to its feet and whipped a metal feather around, sinking it into Rufus's side. He yelped while being hurled ten feet to the side.

Immediately after, the Skarmory rushed the next closest entity: Chris. He backed up in fright, but the Skarmory was already upon him, whipping its knife-like blades around. I rushed forward as well and tackled Chris to the side. As I clenched, waiting for the impending pain to erupt on my back, I heard Azrael's roar, and the shrieks of all of our pokemon. I barely managed to hear Alex yelling, "Give my ball back, you fucking ghost!"

I looked back to see all of our pokemon swarming the Skarmory, with the exception of Gilles, who was flying away from Alex with a red pokeball; presumably Apollo's. Each pokemon of ours was either releasing an attack onto the metal bird, or trying to avoid its retaliations. I looked back to Chris and found a wide bloody gash stretching from his chest to his left arm.

After a few moments, Azrael pounced onto the Skarmory and latched onto its neck. With an abrupt twist and jerk, he broke the Skarmory's neck. He then started tearing into the corpse. All the while, Alex was shrieking at us. As his Xatu attempted to teleport Alex away from danger, Rufus sent multiple dark pulses slamming into the psychic bird, disrupting its psychic processes. He did not stop until the Xatu lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

For once, Alex genuinely looked scared as our pokemon descended upon him. They kept him in place while I wrapped Chris in bandages. After I finished, Chris stood up and approached Alex, with me at his heels.

"W-what are you going to do? Kill me? Rip me apart like Apollo?" I looked around and saw Sheila standing a few feet behind us.

"What the hell did you do to Apollo!?" I demanded.

"What the hell do you care!? None of you fucking business!" he spat back.

"Oh, it is my business, Alex. You had better tell me," I threatened.

"OR WHAT?" He yelled.

Chris was the one to respond. "Or else Pierce is going to turn your Xatu into a feather pillow." I was slightly surprised to hear that from him, but I was too angry to question it.

Alex glared at him and said, "Fuck you! You wouldn't!"

Chris looked to Pierce, and Pierce rushed the prone green bird. He started hacking into Nero like he was made of paper. Blood and feathers filled the air around him, and I could hear Alex screaming. Sheila's voice was almost as loud.

That seemed to have an effect on Alex as he said through clenched teeth and teary eyes, "Nero! Noo! You're all going to pay for this!"

I was shocked at this point beyond words or action. I saw Sheila crying and holding her hands over her mouth, and her pokemon were gathered in front of her. Even Gilles was looking at Chris with a serious face. Chris responded, "Not if you don't tell us. I warned you what would happen." His voice was cold and ruthless.

Finally, Alex said tearfully and in defeat, "I was approached in Cerulean by a man who saw our match at Nugget Bridge. He said he could give my pokemon an edge over yours, and gave me an experimental drug."

"Where did he get it!?" I demanded.

"I don't know!" Alex yelled back. "I was desperate, so I didn't ask. I only had to pay a few hundred 'bucks for it, and the guy said it was legit. He said there were tests!"

"Are you serious!?" exclaimed Sheila. "You would do that to your own pokemon? And just to get back at him?" she said dumbfounded, pointing at me. "…You're insane."

"Shut up!" he screamed. His tears flowed down his cheeks freely and he looked like he was suffering. Two of his pokemon had just been killed in front of him, one of which was downright murdered. If I was not so mad at the lack of information and the circumstances around his Skarmory, I would have felt bad for him. Even then, I felt a twinge of guilt. I felt sad for his Skarmory. Alex had driven it mad with his insane obsession.

"Call the Rangers," Chris said flatly.

I looked at him and did not even question it. I called the Vermillion Rangers and sent for medical evacuation, as well as police assistance. When I hung up, Chris said, "Alright, Pierce, that's enough." The area around us became subtly brighter. The pile of green feathers and blood morphed into a still-breathing Xatu. My mouthed hung agape like a fish, and Sheila's was no different.

Chris looked to us and said with a grim expression, "That was all just an illusion created by Pierce. I'm sorry it scared you, but I'm not sorry for doing it."

Alex's face was a mix of shock, anger, and relief as he said, "Nero! You're ok!" Nero shifted slightly, clearly still in pain but at least he was not dead. We let Alex return Nero to his ball, but we kept him on his back. After about twenty minutes, two Rangers touched down. One of them happened to be one of the Rangers who had helped me the last time I called in.

"Sir, I'd like to report this person," I exclaimed, but the Ranger cut me off.

"Please return your pokemon immediately, trainers," he said seriously. I nodded and acquiesced, releasing Alex from Azrael's aggressive captivity.

"He teleported to us and immediately challenged me to a battle," I continued. "In that battle, his Skarmory attacked me and managed to wound my friend Chris here." I motioned to Chris, who was being strapped onto a Fearow. "Our pokemon protected us, and the Skarmory didn't make it. I also want to report pokemon abuse. I'll let you observe the corpse. He drugged it with some type of enhancement that drove it crazy." By the time I finished explaining, Chris was being flown to Vermillion.

"Geez… This is a lot," the Ranger sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm going to need you all to come back with me to Vermillion. I'll summon a few more Rangers to accompany us." I nodded and Sheila walked up to me.

"Chris really scared me tonight…" she said.

"Yeah, me too," I replied. Whereas I had no qualms about killing Apollo, I did not see how Nero could deserve it.

"This is all too horrible," she said, starting to sob. She then hugged me tightly, pressing her forehead into my jacket. I let her, but I felt like I was forced to relive one of the most painful moments of my life. Raeda screamed in my mind, the Golbat glared at me, and now Apollo's bloodshot eyes were added to the picture. Who sold Alex that drug? Who is responsible for the Golbat that killed my Raeda!?

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gabite

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

**Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Kara – Roselia

Larry – Ampharos

Lady – Ledian

Shade – Kirlia

Charlie – Combusken

Wilbur – Sealeo

**Trainer: Christopher Johnson; KA592SA230**

**Pokemon in Possession:**

Pierce – Zoroark

Rey – Golduck

Jade – Ariados

Shiro – Combusken

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note:

So I think I pulled this one out particularly quickly. A lot happened, and I'm starting to get plot moving, so I hope you all enjoy! And thank you for the new reviews; I really appreciate the feedback.


	13. Chapter 13: The Wilderness

Chapter 13

"All rise… the court is now in session. The Honorable Judge Barnes presiding," the Bailiff called. In the courtroom stood Sheila, newly medically-treated and released Chris, myself, the prosecutor, the trainer defender, the Bailiff, the ranger named Hershel who had helped me twice, Alex, and a couple more rangers. "Please be seated."

We all sat down as the rotund Judge descended onto his seat. After a few formalities, the prosecutor announced, "Your honor, the defendant has been charged with pokemon cruelty for administering an illegal stimulant to his Skarmory; and reckless endangerment for unleashing said pokemon in battle and allowing it to attack trainers. Evidence to support these accusations includes photographs of the now-deceased Skarmory, injuries suffered by a trainer, and testimonies of the trainers standing before you."

The defender then announced, "The defendant stands accused of reckless endangerment, for which the only evidence lies in the words of his accusers. Furthermore, we do not know that the stimulant used by the defendant is illegal. I do not believe my client is guilty of the charges."

I was called to the stand by the prosecutor as the first witness and I explained my history with Alex. "Your honor, after I beat Alex in a pokemon battle in Pewter City, he has been obsessed with beating me, though he has never succeeded. He has challenged me and lost three times since then; in Mt. Moon, at the Nugget Bridge Tournament, and when the incident we are here for occurred. He has relied on underhanded tactics, including the utilization of help from his two friends, who are not here, to attempt to injure my starting pokemon against fair rules of pokemon battling, in which we did not agree to a multi-person battle. He has also taught his pokemon specified, expensive techniques with technical machines in order to gain an advantage over my pokemon specifically, I believe."

I paused to gather my emotions before continuing. "Lastly, he used a drug on his pokemon, whose effects I have seen before on a wild Golbat which killed my Ninjask. During our last battle, Alex released his Skarmory, Apollo, and I immediately recognized its characteristics. Apollo immediately charged into battle, apathetic about any and all threats to its own life, and ended up attacking my friend Chris, who had joined the battle along with Sheila out of fear for our lives. They both recognized the Skarmory's symptoms as well. I tried to tackle Chris out of the way, but the Skarmory had already sliced him across the chest. We eventually ended the battle by subduing Alex on the ground, after the Skarmory had been killed. I pressed Alex for information regarding the origin of the drug, for which he was no help, and then I called the Rangers."

After I was finished, Chris was called to the stand. He gave a similar account, but put more emphasis on explaining Raeda's death and his own victimization. He even lifted his shirt to show the Judge his mangled wound. Although it was mostly healed, a trio of wide scars ran along his chest. Sheila was then called to the stand, and she gave another similar testimony, but she decided to explain even more about Raeda's death and how crazy Alex had acted each time, surprisingly leaving out details about my physical assaults on him.

Lastly, Hershel took the stand and reported to the Judge that he had apprehended two criminals who attacked me before, after I had called him for help. He also told the Judge that he had enough evidence at the scene to ascertain the validity of my claim. Lastly, he was the Ranger who took the pictures of Apollo's corpse, and he presented the pictures to Judge Barnes.

When Alex was called to the stand, we were not prepared for the information that would be uncovered. "Alexander Davidson, you stand accused of pokemon cruelty and reckless endangerment. How do you plead?"

"I plead guilty to the charges of pokemon cruelty," proclaimed Alex, "though I was under the impression that the drug I used was legitimate; and I plead not guilty to the charges of reckless endangerment."

"Then deliver your case, Mr. Davidson," ordered the calm Judge.

Alex cleared his voice before saying, "After I lost at Nugget Bridge, a man approached me and told me that for 300Pb I could make one of my pokemon strong enough to allow me to win the tournament in the future. When I asked him what the drug was called, he said it did not have a street name yet, but that it was new and just approved by the League. Then he showed me a license to sell the drug.

"When I asked him how to use it, he told me to administer the drug into an occupied pokeball twenty minutes before I use him, and the effects would be immediately noticeable when I released him. As for reckless endangerment, I believe that Apollo was simply acting in self-defense. From his perspective, it looked like all three of them," he said pointing at Sheila, Chris, and I, "were attacking him, and he went for the trainer ordering his pokemon to attack him. I don't think he could hear me telling him to stop, since all of the pokemon were being loud."

The prosecutor thought for a minute before saying, "Alexander, there are many ways you could check to see if the drug was approved by the League. The PokeDex you were given is designed to keep you in touch with all of the League's rules, procedures, and legal substances, among many other important pieces of information. Are you aware of this?"

Alex nodded his head slowly.

"And do you admit to the continued challenging of the accuser on multiple occasions?" the prosecutor asked.

"Yes, but there is no rule saying that trainers cannot challenge other people too many times," Alex said self-righteously.

"Instead of challenging Nugget Bridge with the drug at your next opportunity, you decided to wait to use it in battle against this specific trainer," the prosecutor said, pointing at me. Alex's eyes drifted downward as my representative continued. "Besides that, you have challenged this trainer multiple times in the last two months. And I understand that most of these battles came after your ordeal in the caves of Mt. Moon?" the prosecutor asked.

Alex was silent and all ears around me perked up. "…Yes," he responded.

"Your honor," proceeded the prosecutor, "Alexander underwent significant trauma in Mt. Moon after he had challenged the accuser in the valley. Alex and his companions were making their way through the caverns in Mt. Moon when a crazed and monstrous Golbat attacked them. It killed both of Alexander's comrades before it was killed by the trainers' pokemon. Rudimentary biological examination of the deceased Skarmory shows similar, if not identical characteristics to the autopsies of the Golbat."

At that point, Sheila had her hands over her mouth, and I was gawking disbelievingly.

"Alex had to undergo some therapy once he arrived in Cerulean, preventing him from training for several weeks, and he was released with a clean bill of health," the prosecutor continued.

The Judge then leaned forward and said, "And you knowingly administered a drug to your pokemon that caused the same effect?"

"I didn't know!" exclaimed Alex, tears starting to run down his face. "It was dark when I battled with Apollo and I couldn't see him well enough. I was too focused on their reactions to him."

I was caught completely off guard with the new information while Alex pointed at me and my friends. He had been holed up in Cerulean for a few weeks, which explained why he was in Cerulean City when we were. It also explained why his companions were no longer present after the Mt. Moon fight. I had noticed he was alone each time, but I had given it little thought. After all, who would want to travel with such an asshole? The realization of what truly happened left me feeling slightly empathetic, but nonetheless still indignant.

"It still does not excuse the fact that you knowingly administered an unknown drug to your pokemon without checking to see if it was legal," accused the prosecutor.

"Objection, your honor!" bellowed the defender. "He's badgering the defendant."

"Sustained. I will ask you to calm down and only limit yourself to questions intended to produce evidence," stated the Judge.

"I'm sorry, your honor. No further questions."

After that, the defender asked me, Sheila, and Chris questions, determined to find out if we were fabricating any of the facts, but quickly found no such evidence. Afterwards, as it was growing late, and after further miscellaneous loose ends were tied, the court session was brought to a close for the day. The Judge addressed the court, saying, "The trial will continue tomorrow morning at 8:00 A.M. Court is adjourned."

As we were leaving the court, Sheila looked to me and Chris and said, "I can't believe his friends were killed… It must have been so awful."

I remained quiet but Chris said, "So he's been through hell. It makes sense that he is a little messed up. But people who are a little messed up don't force their pokemon to go crazy."

"Maybe. I still feel a little bad for him, though. It might explain why he's been acting so obsessed with you," she said looking at me.

"Oh? How so?" I asked, unbelievingly.

"Well, maybe wanting to beat you takes his mind off of what happened to his friends," Sheila said thoughtfully. "I still don't think what he did was right, but it might explain why he did it."

"Whatever. He'll get no sympathy from me," I said vindictively.

"That's too bad," sighed Sheila. "Though, the whole situation is too bad."

I did not respond, and we continued on our way. The influx of new information regarding Raeda's death had rendered me anxiously curious and angry. Throughout the time we spent waiting for the end of the trial, I repeatedly asked Hershel if any information had been gained about the source of the drug, and I came away with little.

Unfortunately, there were few reports of pokemon exhibiting the same traits as Apollo. Apart from Alex's pokemon and my report of the Golbat, there were only two other incidents. One of which involved a horrendous Zubat, which killed a trainer's pokemon in Mt. Moon before being taken down, and the other was the other monstrous Golbat which had killed Alex's companions.

I asked Hershel for a more specific account of Alex's tragedy to try and deduce anything that could help, and he told me that, according to the report, the Golbat had struck from the darkness, attacking Devon from above and decapitating him with its bite before his pokemon could react. From there, Alex and his other companion, Doug, started fighting with their pokemon. Before they could weaken it, the Golbat managed to bite down on Doug's arm and shoulder and then tear his side completely away. Alex's and his friend's pokemon were barely able to kill the Golbat, but Doug bled out by the time help arrived.

Later that night, I contacted my father and let him know about my situation. He seemed apprehensive, but I told him there was nothing to worry about regarding my potential to get in trouble. The worst case scenario in my mind was Alex being charged only with pokemon cruelty. When I reviewed the facts with him, he seemed to agree and told me to keep him updated throughout the process, to which I acquiesced.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"All rise… the court is now in session. The Honorable Judge Barnes presiding," the Bailiff called. It was now the second day of the trial, and the fourth day since we returned to Vermillion. After a few more formalities, the Judge reached a decision on the case.

The Judge cleared his voice before reciting in a businesslike cadence, "From the evidence of your Skarmory, retrieved by Ranger Hershel – badge number VE519 – and from the testimonies of these three trainers, as well as the injuries sustained by one of which, Christopher Johnson; the court has concluded that you, Alexander Davidson, who have been accused by the Indigo League of pokemon cruelty and reckless endangerment, have been found guilty of both charges. Do you have any further comments?"

Alex shook his hanging head and said, "None."

"Then the court sentences you to six months league suspension, the confiscation of your remaining pokemon until such time as your suspension is lifted, and mandatory psychological evaluation and rehabilitation. This court is now adjourned." With his last words, the Honorable Judge Barnes brought his gavel down, sending a resounding knock through the walls which carried an air of stolid finality.

We left the courthouse and our pokemon were returned to us. Alex was taken through a different courtroom exit, but not before he sent us a look of hopelessness and consternation, for which I felt absolutely no sympathy. As far as I was concerned, he had brought all of it upon himself.

Beyond the knowledge of Alex's misfortune, each piece of evidence gathered during the investigation yielded no answers, and the man who had sold Alex the drug in Cerulean City could not be found. The investigation was stuck, and until more information could be retrieved, we would continue to be held in ignorance. As a result, I was left more anxious and angrier than ever, but soon enough, I had training to take my mind off of the investigation.

After our encounter with Alex and with the knowledge gained from the trial, I reassessed what supplies I deemed important enough to bring along. Before we set off again, I stopped by a drugstore and purchased a few medical products for use on humans, including a few expensive syringes full of concentrated Blissey egg, which have near-miraculous effects on injuries.

I spent the vastly larger amount of money on the medicine made from the evolved form of Chansey because I knew where we would be traveling. If any of us were injured like Chris was from Apollo, there would be no help and he or she would be in grave danger. It ended up costing more for one syringe than for one Ultraball, but Chris and Sheila both followed suit, buying a syringe. Lastly, I purchased a few different antidotes. I didn't know what we would encounter and I wanted to be ready for any possibility; it's better safe than sorry. When we were finally ready to re-cast ourselves into the wilderness, we dejectedly left Vermillion City.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Eventually we found ourselves trudging through the snow again outside of Vermillion. After another day of challenges, we reached the expanse where my battle with Alex had taken place. It had recently snowed, leaving a fresh blanket of icy whiteness which seemed to cover any evidence of the terrible events which had transpired.

The quiet serenity which gripped that place drove my mind to contemplate nature and its role in keeping its ugly incidents hidden. It came as a mixture of sadness and loathing to know that a place as serene as that held such horrendous secrets. Eventually, I felt the need to share my thoughts.

"It's amazing how peaceful this place is now," I remarked. "Probably no one will ever know what happened here. Makes me wonder; what other stories lay buried here, or anywhere else out here for that matter?"

"I don't want to think about that," said Sheila. "I'd prefer to think that nature gives this place a fresh start. Bad things happened, but the forest prevents those horrors from troubling anyone or anything else. It moves on as if they never happened."

"I think that is a foolish way to think," said Chris, vindictively. "Whether you want to act like they happened or not, what happened still happened. Thinking that way blinds you to the world and prevents you from learning."

"I learned enough that night, Chris," said Sheila, defensively and with a low tone. "I don't need nature constantly reminding me to remember what happened." Chris did not respond.

Ever since Chris surprised us with what he did to Alex, Sheila had subtly changed her behavior towards him, and it seemed to me like she was secretly afraid of him. Chris had also taken on a subtle change of his own. To me he seemed to be more gruff and prone to lashing out, in general. As a result, our travels became subtly quieter.

Despite our altered dynamic, Sheila continued trying to keep our little group cheerful, and succeeded for the most part. Personally, I became more cheerful knowing that I could return to the manner of training to which I was accustomed. Being able to train more often also had the added perk of allowing me to ignore the tension in our group.

Whereas the tension in the group was uncomfortable and awkward, it did not compare to the unsettling vibe that accompanied us through the wilderness. The off-route path was unlike the Viridian Forest in several ways. The woods were eerie, and they projected noises unheard of by me or my companions.

A simple event gave me a reality check about just how far we were from civilization. We were walking through the trees, creating our own path, when a Persian walked out about twenty feet in front of us. The tan mountain lion was stocky and rippled with muscles, had red stained fur around its mouth, red slits in its eyes, a valuable red gem on its forehead, and a mangled Lopunny hanging from its mouth.

It simply turned its head to look at our gaggle of humans and pokemon before continuing on its way. It was as if we were not worth the effort to warn off with a growl. It was so sure about its own capability, and it even gave a look of curiosity, showing how little it knew about trained pokemon and people. The event left us all standing in awe and uneasiness. We were all just different types of scrumptious animals to the predators here, and it was harrowing to know so.

Sheila and Chris did not take it as lightly as I did, though. They often commented on how scared they were and that they had no idea where we were located. To be honest, though I had a compass, I had no idea either. However, I would confidently re-assure them with lies about how I knew exactly what I was doing and where I was leading us, but I would sometimes have to be vague about it. For example, I would say that we were heading towards a river, or that I just wanted to head north for the day. If they did not trust in my leadership, then they did not voice their opinion, which was fine by me. Other than them, my pokemon seemed to have complete confidence in me.

For the first few days, I concocted a new training regimen to help my pokemon quickly learn to control their abilities. I instituted three-a-days, in which my pokemon would focus exclusively on a single ability, or sometimes two, during each couple-hour session. For example, Azrael would practice his bulldoze during the first session, his dragon claw during the second, and his rock slide during the third, and on the next day he would practice different techniques.

All of my pokemon were subjected to the same training regime, learning to master their own abilities. By the time we would reach Celadon, my pokemon would become significantly more adept with their capabilities. Beyond the technique-focused training sessions, I was also curious about introducing a different type of training technique: faux fighting and weakness exposure, which I instituted after three days.

I did not want my pokemon to simply fight each other; I wanted them to practice their techniques on other competent pokemon, instead of on vegetation or earth. I wanted them to practice evading other pokemons' attacks, or to withstand them.

I also wanted them to grow a tolerance to their natural weaknesses, which could be seen as somewhat cruel. It was justified in my mind, however, because many gym-raised pokemon had received similar training, and with some kinds of pain come valuable gains. Even though my father's warnings against subjecting fire pokemon to water rang in my mind, I decided it was more acceptable since it was not a punishment; it was for the purpose of overcoming weaknesses.

My pokemon were reluctant to face off against one another, for I had never made them fight each other seriously. They were even more averse to the idea of subjecting themselves to their individual weaknesses, but Azrael stepped up and led them with his resolve and courage. When I allowed Ceto to send a toned-down beam of ice at Azrael, he took the hit, snarled, and took his position again. Motivated by Azrael's bravery, the others followed suit.

Though my pokemon started sparring reluctantly, they quickly became enthusiastic. They even looked forward to sparring practice more than any other kinds of training sessions. They liked it so much that I eventually started to hold a sparring workout every day as the second session, though that did not start until after a couple of weeks had passed. After about a week of heavy technique focus, I started mixing the sessions up. Most of the time I would hold ability-focus workouts, but I would switch some out for sparring, drilling, and weakness training.

Sheila and Chris also liked the idea of building their pokemons' expertise with specific moves, so they followed my example, though they never trained as long in each session. Sheila tended to train for about 45 minutes in each session, and Chris would train for about an hour, leaving me to continue training with my pokemon alone for another hour.

When it came to sparring and weakness training, Sheila was very apprehensive at first. She did not push the issue too much because she noticed that my pokemon enjoyed the fighting, but she did not like that I was letting my pokemon intentionally hit each other with moves that were more painful than normal. However, after a week or so, she surprised me.

Sheila approached me one day and said, "You know, I've been talking to Shade and the rest of my pokemon through her, and I think I've been a little naïve. I can see the benefits of fighting each other, and I can see that your pokemon enjoy it very much. Even though it feels a little wrong to me, I realize that I may just be thinking narrow-mindedly."

I was shocked; it was the first time I remembered her ever outright surrendering to me on an issue of contention. I simply thanked her and continued on with my routine. Soon after, Sheila started letting her pokemon spar as well. Sheila, Chris, and I even reached the point after a couple of weeks where we let all of our pokemon spar with each other to give them variety. Between Sheila, Chris, and I, we had pokemon with dragon, ghost, fire, dark, water, poison, grass, bug, psychic, electricity, and fighting classifications, which covered most of the spectrum of pokemon types.

The institution of my new training regimen gave me and my pokemon a newfound sense of pride, confidence, and determination. However, it did not prepare us for the dangers of the wilderness into which I so brashly and headstrongly led our group.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Our first week of travel was full of training, hunting, and aimless meandering through a tortuous path of rocks, trees, and creeks. The pokemon out there were stronger than those we had encountered on any of the routes. It did not necessarily mean that we could not handle them; on the contrary, my bow was as effective as ever and my pokemon were more ruthless and strong than they had ever been. The wild pokemon just knew how to survive, and never fell without a fight.

We hunted Hoothoot, Noctowl, Rattata, Raticate, Mankey, Aipom, Taillow, Buneary, Lopunny, Stantler, and Sawsbuck. Apart from the pokemon we hunted, we encountered many more different species. Though I had never stopped letting my pokemon kill any pokemon they came across, about which Sheila was constantly irritated, I had limited their murderous actions to defense I against territorial, feral pokemon which attacked us on sight and to hunting.

Overall, the off-route wilderness was much more dangerous and frightening, for we never knew what would jump out at us or what we could stumble in to. Every day we managed to piss off several wild pokemon just by walking into the wrong area, and it usually led to a battle in which the attacking pokemon died or fled before it could be killed.

An exception occurred when we came across a lone Nidorino on the third day. We could tell it was a Nidorino from one hundred feet away, as opposed to a Nidorina, by its purplish skin color, its skinny, long poisonous barbs, and the pronounced horn on its head. The stocky pseudo-rhino's ears were large, and they twitched before he turned his head toward us. He saw us and stood his ground before pawing the dirt and charging. Chris immediately shouted, "He's mine!" to which Sheila and I responded by running in different directions, recalling most of our pokemon in the process.

Chris knew that the Nidorino could poison other pokemon if they physically attacked it, so he instructed his team to attack him at a distance. Jade shot out sticky strings of webbing which slowed the charging pokemon, Rey sent out pulses of water which battered and drenched him, Pierce projected a scary face which also slowed the Nidorino, and Shiro stood in front of Chris protectively. When it grew near enough, Chris took out a pokeball and flung it at the poison pokemon. It burst apart after a couple seconds, warranting another barrage of different non-physical attacks.

Chris then threw another pokeball, and it lasted slightly longer before exploding. Chris had to damn-near kill the pokemon before it was weak enough to catch; and even under those circumstances, he had to use a Greatball. The pokemon in the off-route forests were too strong to be caught with normal pokeballs. After he caught the Nidorino, Chris named him Kratos.

Sheila and I applauded Chris for his accomplishment, and watched as he tried to befriend the creature. Kratos did not take lightly to Chris's attempts, and tried to charge him again, so his pokemon immediately protected him, though Shiro became badly poisoned in the process. They subdued and held the Nidorino down as Chris administered an antidote to Shiro's wound. He then addressed the Nidorino, appealing to its desire for strength and safety, since, as a part of Chris's team, Kratos would not have to worry about defending himself from the pokemon of the wild alone.

Kratos understood little, but was pressured into obeying by Chris's other pokemon. Although having multiple other pokemon made it much easier to train new pokemon, the Nidorino was very stubborn, and I could tell it would take a while for Chris to truly earn his loyalty.

It was during the eighth day of our immersion in the uncharted and societally vacant forest that we found ourselves setting up camp and preparing for our final training session of the day. While we were erecting our thin tents, Sheila drew me into a short debate.

"Why do you have to kill some of the pokemon that come out to attack us?" she asked. "Can't you just have your pokemon knock them out? They are only just protecting their homes."

"Well if you think about it, what would happen if we left a wounded pokemon alone out here?" I asked. "Or unconscious at that! They would be sitting Psyducks. Plus, our pokemon get a meal out of it in the end."

"But pokemon heal much faster than we do," Sheila pushed. "You don't know that they couldn't survive until they got better. Say we push their bodies into a bush; or hide them somewhere where they could be safe until they heal. I'd say the chances could be good that they would survive."

"Perhaps they could survive. In that case, maybe you are right. But the fact still stands that we eat the pokemon we kill. It allows us to spend less time hunting," I returned.

"I guess…" said Sheila disappointedly. "On that note, I'm not sure if I find it okay to eat some species of pokemon. I mean, some types of pokemon are naturally more intelligent than others. Obviously an Alakazam is much smarter than most pokemon; or us for that matter. And I know that Pidgey, Bidoof, and other small game animals are not very smart at all. But most pokemon are sapient, even if some of the unevolved stages are barely beyond sentient."

"I think I know what you mean and I've always justified it with one piece of reasoning. Azrael is intelligent and so are the pokemon that he naturally preys on. If it is okay that a naturally-evolved predator such as he can kill another sapient being for nourishment, then why would it not be for us to do same? Granted, we are omnivores, so we can nourish ourselves without meat, but we still evolved alongside pokemon with the ability and prerogative to eat other creatures. If it is natural for a sapient pokemon to eat another sapient pokemon, then we should not feel unnatural in doing the same."

"…That's fairly compelling," stated Sheila matter-of-factly before falling quiet. "Though with that reasoning, you could say that it's ok for people to eat people."

"I think that's a little different... Though I wonder what human flesh would taste like," I said, grinning as evilly and creepily as I could.

"Don't even joke about that," Sheila said, laughing.

After that, I finished setting up my tent, and then drew my pokemon out into a small clearing. For today, the third session was technique-focused, so I told Azrael to cut down the trees at the edges of the clearing with his Dragon Claw in order to make the clearing larger. He immediately went to work, cutting down the smaller trees with ease. He minced some of them into smaller pieces for us to use as firewood.

I then had Azrael practice his bulldozing ability, focusing on widening the wave or making it thicker. Gilles was practicing his energy ball, using the near-dead foliage that Azrael had just felled as fuel, and then switched to practicing his shadow jumps when he ran out of dying flora. Occasionally, he would jump out of Sheila's or Chris's shadow to scare them, eliciting giggles from everyone in the camp, but I had no problem with it; it was all in good fun.

I had Rufus concentrating on shaping his Dark Pulse so that, instead of hitting everything around him with a force bubble, he could send out a stronger cylinder-shaped pulse in front of him, and I had Ceto doing the same with her Water Pulse. In the meantime, I was monitoring them, giving them words of encouragement, and occasionally practicing my archery.

While my pokemon practiced, Chris was having Pierce create the most realistic realities that he could. He was also having Rey mimic Ceto, Jade create webs, and Shiro spar with Charlie. He was still getting to know Kratos while his pokemon practiced.

Sheila decided not to join in, and instead chose to lie down. After about two hours, when the only illumination in the artificially large clearing was the light from the campfire, I concluded my training session. I then beckoned my heavily-breathing pokemon over to the campfire, where Chris and Sheila were lounging with jerkied meat in their mouths. Azrael clomped over beside us and let himself fall to the ground before curling up. Gilles was quiet and just hung in the air above me, Ceto lethargically moved over on top of Azrael, and Rufus sat beside me, panting.

I absentmindedly ran my hand through the course hair on the back of Rufus's neck, enjoying the heat he exuded, which had a tendency to provide more warmth than the fire, and Chris and Sheila were each bundled up in their winter coats, trying to keep the bite out of the cold night air. "S-so. H-how l-long are w-we g-going to be staying out h-here again?" asked Chris, his teeth chattering as he spoke.

"As long as it t-takes," I responded. "Th-these are the trials w-we must ov-vercome. If our predecessors c-could do it, s-so can we." Despite Rufus's body heat and my warm jacket, the temperature was still at a freezing -7˚F. We were all ravaged by the cold, and even Rufus had to raise his metabolism in order to keep his body heat up. In general, we kept most of our pokemon inside of their pokeballs at night to protect them from the cold. Because they could easily endure the weather, I left out Azrael, Rufus, and Gilles; Sheila left out Wilbur, Charlie, and Shade; and Chris left out Pierce and Shiro.

"U-ugghh," exclaimed Chris. He was apparently not taking it well. We called it a night soon after so that we could retreat into the warmth of our respective sleeping bags, supplemented with our pokemons' body heat. The night was windy but quiet, holding us in ambient low-howling and cold darkness. By the time the wind died down, we were fast asleep and could not hear the night grow still.

I was awoken by Rufus pawing me in the face, and I had to calm myself down from my sudden awakening before I noticed that he was growling. I quickly slipped on my boots, grabbed my bow, and unzipped my tent. Azrael was standing outside with his snout raised in the air, taking in long draws of breath. Rufus rushed past me and stood next to Azrael, mimicking the motion.

I quickly ran over to Sheila's tent, unzipped it, and shook her leg to rouse her from her slumber. She grumpily kicked back, but after I said, "Sheila, wake up. Something's wrong," she heard the seriousness in my tone, and started crawling out of her sleeping bag. The sudden disturbance also caused her pokemon to stir, and I asked, "Shade, I need you to ask Azrael and Rufus what is going on." The Kirlia nodded and left the tent behind me.

I then ran over to Chris's tent and repeated the process. He was easier to wake than Sheila, so I left his tent to check up on Shade. Shade was looking up at my pokemon before turning and lightly half-floating over to Sheila, who said, "She says that Azrael and Rufus think that we are not alone. They can smell something upwind of us out in the forest."

I retracted an arrow and waited for Chris to emerge from his tent. As the forms of Shiro and Pierce sprouted from his tent flap, I ran over to meet him at its entrance to inform him of the situation. When I reached him, I heard both Azrael and Rufus start snarling, so I looked over my shoulder to check on them. They were running to the far edge of the camp, snarling at the darkness. The only light came from the smoldering coals of our fire, Sheila's and Chris's flashlights, and Shade's Flash, which manifested as a small orb of radiance between her red horns on her head.

Pierce ran forward to join them and Chris followed him past me. I continued to scan the trees from where I stood, but saw nothing. Shortly after, I was on one side of the camp; Chris, Sheila, and the majority of their pokemon were in the middle; and my pokemon were on the other side. Essentially, I was alone, about twenty feet away from the closest person or pokemon and downwind of everyone. With that realization, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I did not know which was scarier; realizing that I was alone on one side of the camp, or realizing that my unease was not the only explanation for my rigid neck hairs.

I turned around to look behind me, and saw trees and bushes covered in fluffy white snow. However, despite the small amounts of light shining from behind me, my eyes were drawn to a small gap in the leaves of a bush. In that gap were the outlines of two eyes. My heart skipped a beat and I froze because the distance between the two eyes was greater than the width of my head, and they were staring directly at me from less than ten feet away.

My voice caught in my throat as I felt a wave of static fill my ears, cause the muscles in my body to seize, and cause the rest of the hair on my body to stand straight up. The owner of those eyes then started to move, slinking out of the bush towards me with the grace of a natural hunter. I could not move or scream, and I was having trouble breathing; it was as if my brain could not send the signal to run to my limbs, and it felt like my chest was being squeezed.

A large feline figure emerged and I grew more and more frightened with recognition. The predator prowled forward with unnatural silence in spite of the snow, which would normally give off sound under such a large creature's feet. When it reached five feet in front of me, it raised itself up to its full height, its eyes level with mine. Its black fur was matted and held a few streaks of yellow, and it condensed around its neck and head into a bushy mane. It had large blue ears, dull yellow eyes, and four-inch-long fangs. The 450lbs of raw muscle and killing prowess stared at me like a fresh cut of Miltank steak, and only one word ran through my panicked mind: …Luxray.

I knew that the lions were pack predators and that only one Luxray could reside in a pride of its fellow Luxio because of its ferocious and domineering nature, so I knew that the Luxray I was standing before was the most dangerous member of its pack. I also knew that becoming separated from the group was the worst possible thing that could have happened. No doubt the rest of the pride was creating some form of distraction upwind while the strongest member flanked its prey. Lastly, I knew that they were electric-type, capable of paralyzing their prey with waves of electricity, which explained why my body was unresponsive. However, my knowledge was worthless at that moment.

It pounced. I was knocked back as if I weighed less than a leaf, but I was able to turn my face away before it drug its claws down my head and to my chest with its left paw. Its right paw then slashed me from my left arm to the middle of my chest, creating a checkerboard of crimson and torn fabric where the two separate sets of bleeding lines crossed. I saw its mouth open, displaying a host of jagged teeth with small arches of lightning jumping from one to the other, and descend toward my throat as they were illuminated by a flash of light from the camp.

The Luxray's jaws never reached my neck. Its weight lifted from me, and I watched as it flew into a nearby tree. It landed on its feet after its collision, and then sprinted towards me to grab its wounded prey and flee. However, instead of pouncing upon me again, it latched onto a particularly thick log in the stack of firewood nearby and took off with it. My confusion was a secondary reaction compared to my reaction to the pain in my chest, and due to my paralysis, I could not even move to start covering my wounds.

A couple of seconds later, Chris's face appeared above mine and mouthed, "Holy shit! Hold on!" If there was any noise coming from his mouth, I could not hear it; the gashes across my torso and face were screaming out, blurring my senses and causing my pain to literally deafen me.

Chris disappeared, and then reappeared soon after with a syringe and sheets of gauze from a medical emergency kit. As he injected the needle into my wounded arm, Sheila's face appeared next to Chris's. Her eyes were wide with terror and leaking clear fluid freely, and she helped Chris remove my shredded jacked in order to allow Chris to use the gauze.

When my jacked came off and I felt the bite of the cold add to the pain of my shrieking lacerations, Sheila's hands covered her mouth and her tears started flowing more rapidly. I could not hear a single sound beyond my pain and electricity-induced auditory convulsions while Chris and Sheila struggled to bind my wounds. Multi-colored lights flared from the other side of the campsite, and my vision grew blurry before slowly fading to black.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

When I awoke, the sun was shining through the trees. My sleeping bag was draped over me, Azrael's tail was under my head, and Rufus was lying on my feet. I stirred, rustling my sleeping bag, and Sheila was instantly beside me. She was smiling, but her face was blemished with tears. "Thank the Legendaries! I'm so happy you're healing. We were afraid that the Blissey egg injection wouldn't work fast enough. How do you feel?"

I groaned and sat up before saying, "I've been better." My chest, left arm, neck, and face were throbbing. I looked around and only saw Sheila's pokemon. There was also another girl standing beside Sheila. She was wearing a white dress, with green blotches, had green hair, and her face had spikes protruding out to the sides. I also noticed that she was hovering slightly over the ground. It was Shade; she had finally evolved into her final form: Gardevoir. I was surprised and proud of Sheila, but I was confused about the situation, so I asked, "Where's Chris? And you don't need to look so forlorn; I'm alright."

Sheila started crying, lightly, as she replied, "He's gone…"

"What do you mean? What happened?" I asked cautiously.

"When you were attacked, a large group of Luxio burst into the clearing and started fighting our pokemon. Chris let out Jade and Kratos to help, and then I heard a low static-y sound burst, so I looked back and saw that Luxray coming out of the bushes. Shade did as well and evolved before throwing it off of you. Chris noticed as well and ran back to you with Pierce, who I think made the Luxray believe that you were one of the logs. Soon after, the rest of the pack ran off, but we were too busy attending to your injuries to notice until after they were already gone. You passed out, but you kept breathing, and your pokemon ran back to you. I grabbed your sleeping bag and draped it over you, and your pokemon curled up around you. Since then, they haven't moved and have been distraught. Shade tells me they think it's their fault you were hurt."

"Geez…" I said, looking at my pokemon. "Azrael, Rufus, you both did great in warning us all about the attack in the first place. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." It seemed to have little effect on their moods, seeing as how Rufus only whined and Azrael huffed. Then I turned back to Sheila. "And what about after? What about Chris?" I asked fervently.

Sheila sniffled before saying, "He checked on the rest of the pokemon. At first, everything seemed to be alright, but then I heard him yelling out for Jade. He ran back over to me and asked me if Jade had come back over to me, but she hadn't. His face looked so scared… He checked his pokeball GPS for Jade's location, but it wasn't responding. Then he called the rest of his pokemon and took off into the forest. He's been gone for nine hours now. Kara, Lady, Larry, and Shade have been keeping watch on the forest, but nothing has happened. I'm so scared for Chris." By the time she was finished, her voice had grown hysterical.

I did not know what to say. I had lost a pokemon, so I knew the burning desire for revenge as well as any other who had also experienced that loss. "Sheila, Azrael, help me up," I said, and Sheila tearfully draped my arm over her neck while Azrael lifted my upper back with his tail. When I rose, the sleeping bag fell from me, revealing heavily-stained gauze which wrapped around my body.

"We need to change these bandages," I said meekly. Sheila nodded and cut the end of the gauze strip loose. After she unwrapped me, I noticed that all of the wounds had healed over, rendering further bandaging unnecessary. However, a horrendous sketch of lacerations decorated me. Four indented lines ran down the right side of my face, stretching from an inch beside my eye to the other side of my ear, and running down my neck to my chest where it met another set of four scarred lines. The second set ran from the side of my left shoulder and arm to halfway across my right pectoral muscle. Where they met was a latticework of aesthetically unappealing scars, and blood-dyed skin.

"That looks so painful…" Sheila said.

"Tell me about it," I groaned. Rufus whined again, so I glanced over at him. He was looking at me with his ears tucked back, so I said, "Don't worry, Rufus. It looks a lot worse than it feels." I then looked to Azrael, whose head was hung low and who would not meet my gaze. I reached up and gently grabbed one of his bulbous horns, bringing his eyes to mine. "Azrael, I'm alright. It could have been much worse than this. You may feel like you have failed me; I know I've felt the same way towards you. You haven't given up on me and I will not give up on you. We learn from our mistakes; not become divided over them. I love you, Azrael, and I know you wouldn't let this happen to me if you could help it. So get over it and stop moping."

Azrael met my gaze as I spoke, and by the time I finished, he was emitting a low hum from inside of his throat. He then nipped my shoulder, now long-since calloused over. I patted him on the side of his neck and noticed that Sheila was looking at us with a big smile on her face. I smiled back, realized how cold I was, and immediately clothed myself with one of my spare shirts, and adorned my shredded coat. After that, I released the rest of my pokemon and explained the situation to them, before I told them to perform basic drills while we waited for Chris to return.

Of course I did not know if Chris would return or not; I just wanted to keep everyone positive. I would have searched for him myself, but I was not physically fit enough. In spite of the Blissey egg medicine, it still hurt a lot to move, so I refrained from doing just that. I sat down beside to the fire, next to Sheila, and waited.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

At around 3:15 in the afternoon, Rufus announced with a howl that Chris was approaching. Sheila and I eagerly intercepted him on his way into the camp, and we immediately noticed his downcast, hopeless stature. It could only mean one thing.

"Chris…" I said.

"Don't," he quickly replied. "Jade is gone. I couldn't find those damn Luxio. Their prints just lead in circles."

"Chris, you shouldn't have gone alone. That pack could have killed you if they came back," Sheila said.

"Then you should have come with me!" snapped Chris.

"You know I couldn't leave with him injured so badly!" said Sheila back to him angrily.

"Yeah… If he wasn't injured, I might have been able to keep an eye on Jade…" Chris muttered.

"Don't you even dare!" Sheila reprimanded him. "And it's not like he wanted to get torn apart by a Luxray. He's saved you before, too. If he had not woken us up, things could have been a lot worse!"

"Well we're even, now," Chris said vindictively.

Then I spoke up. "Chris, thanks for saving me. I know what it's like to lose a pokemon, and I know how you are feeling. However, if you need to lash out at something, it is unwise to do so at the people who care about you."

"It was your idea to come out here!" Chris yelled, pointing a finger at me and starting to tear up. "To this cold hell! We wouldn't face predators like this on Route six or seven!"

"Exactly!" I countered. "We wouldn't face these kinds of things! We would just battle and battle until our pokemon dropped, and we would pretend like we earned the power it would give them. If you wanted to do that, you could have. You know how I train, and I told you before that you did not have to come with us if you did not want to. You stayed with me. You want to be a trainer? This is it! These are the dangers that we face. You want to make it to the Elite 4? Guess what; training like everyone else and following everyone else will give the same result as everyone else: ultimate failure."

"Don't preach to me!" He pushed back, tears flowing freely now. "You have to do everything the hard way! If I was not here, you would be dead right now, and you would meet ultimate failure, too,"

"Hey! This isn't okay!" Sheila shouted. "Chris, we know you are grieving, but this is the wrong way to do it. We both made a decision to accompany him out here, and it wasn't completely because he just said so, so give him a break!" To that, Chris looked down and away, avoiding Sheila's gaze.

"And you," she said, staring right at me. "Maybe try to show a little compassion? Tough love doesn't always work; especially in situations like this."

"I'll get right on that when I'm done being bitched at for almost being torn to shreds by a Luxray. And then being criticized for it," I said, vindictively.

"Would you get over your pride and grow up a little," Sheila said, exasperated.

"Alright, sorry Chris for almost dying and forcing you to save me," I said sarcastically. "And I'm sorry for making you come out here against your will."

Sheila let out a frustrated cry and looked at Chris. "I'm so sorry for you Chris. It was a hard night on us all. It was much worse for you two, but I know enough to say that this kind of bickering won't help anything. You both are angry and sad, but turning on each other is the worst thing you can do right now. We need each other out here!"

Chris and I both looked down in silence. "Right, well let's take the day off, okay? Chris, figure out what you need us to do, and we will help you mourn Jade. And you," she said, looking at me. "Go train with your pokemon to the best of your abilities. We will sit down tonight and resume this conversation when everyone has calmed down."

Chris and I remorsefully obeyed. I tried to practice archery, finding it much more difficult than normal. When I twisted my body on the draw, my chest would ache, and it affected my accuracy. I was still able to hit my target, but the shots were wide and hit the edges. Despite my enfeeblement, the training allowed my mind to ease. During training, I tried to call my parents and found it impossible. Afterwards, my pokemon and I went on a fruitless hunting expedition, returning later that night.

When we met at the campfire, we ate some of our preserved food and tried to avoid talking for as long as possible. To our chagrin, Sheila instigated conversation between us by saying to me, "You know what he's going through. Is there anything you can say to help him?"

I thought for a moment before saying, "Look Chris, there is nothing I can say that can bring Jade back or make it less painful. You need to rely on your pokemon for support, for they need you just as much as you need them right now. They are hurting just as much as you are. I'm sorry about all of this. There is no easy way to get past it; if there was, people wouldn't drop out of the League so often when they lose a pokemon."

"I know. And I'm sorry for lashing out. It was just too sudden. One minute Jade was there; the next she was gone," Chris replied slowly.

"If you need anything, Chris, we are here for you," Sheila said meaningfully.

"Thanks, but I just need to deal with it on my own right now," he replied not unthankfully.

I understood, so I let it go. This was a personal battle, and nothing I could say would make a difference. If he survived it, he would possibly continue on with us. If not, he would probably go home and pursue a different career. I hoped he would get through, but it was not for me to decide.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Chris dealt with the pain of losing Jade much differently than I did when dealing with Raeda's death. Instead of bottling up his emotions, he simply let them loose. When battling wild pokemon, his orders were demonstrative and ruthless. His pokemon also seemed to take on a more hardened attitude, focusing on their training in order to make the most out of it. Within a few days of the Luxray attack, Chris was training with his pokemon for the entire duration of our sessions, as opposed to only fractions of them.

A week passed with Chris's behavior staying the way it was. At the end of the week, we were sparring every day, different pokemon facing off against each other during each so that they would get the maximum exposure to different types. When that schedule was announced, I also brought up two important suggestions for Chris and Sheila to consider.

The first was on the topic of time. I explained to Chris and Sheila that I wanted to spend a much longer period of time out here than normal. All in all, I was thinking about a length of time comparable to the time we spent between Pewter City and Cerulean City. When asked why, I said, "I feel like I am moving too quickly. It's dangerous – there is no doubt about that – but I also think that we need to offset the time we spent figuratively sprinting on Route 5 and Route 6 with a comparative marathon. Also, Chris, out here it is not complicated with trainer battles. When I lost Raeda, spending time in such an environment helped me immensely." The most I could get out of them was a, "Let's play it by ear," and in the end, I had to settle for that.

The second topic I wanted to discuss was sport. "Sport," I explained, "is not only for entertainment. I played baseball for most of my life so that I could learn to throw a ball perfectly, which serves me well when I want to catch a pokemon. What I'm thinking about is that maybe once or twice a week, we could have our pokemon play a game of capture the flag, or something like that. It would teach our pokemon to work as a team, and it could give us practice in dealing with quickly-changing scenarios."

Sheila and Chris both found the idea of sport to be a fun idea, and humored it once before they agreed to make it a scheduled event. We all agreed to host a game of capture the flag the next day, in which one pokemon on each team could hold a "flag," and in order to win, a team had to hold all three.

The rules for the game were established by all three of us as follows: the flag, which was a baton, must either be held by a pokemon or it must be planted in plain sight. Powerful attacks needed to be toned down so that injury would be avoided, though if a pokemon passed out, they had to be returned. Pokemon can be disqualified for excessive roughness. If a Pokemon chooses to lay down, they cannot be attacked, but also cannot act for two minutes. Trainers can issue orders, but cannot actively participate. If a team destroys a baton, they are disqualified. Lastly, to make things more interesting, we could not give orders to our pokemon during the first game.

We fashioned the batons out of small logs and pokemon hide. We cut a 2.5 inch thick log into three two-foot-long pieces and wrapped them with Stantler hide, which could ideally withstand a lot of trauma before breaking.

The next morning, before the game started, I went over some rudimentary strategies for my pokemon and they seemed to understand. The game took place in a clearing about one hundred and fifty feet across with some scattered trees. Sheila, Chris and I stood side-by-side so that we could arbitrate the match. When everyone was ready, all three of us yelled "GO."

Azrael stayed back, holding the baton in his mouth and stirring up a snow-mixed sandstorm; Ceto hovered beside him with black smoke pouring from her mouth; and Rufus and Gilles rushed forward, Rufus howling and Gilles flying up into the air. On Chris's side, Pierce held a baton and was making himself move faster and faster with his ability to increase his agility; Shiro stood near him, puffing out his feathers as he bulked up; and Rey and Kratos moved forward, Rey emitting a high-pitched mental screech and Kratos lowered his head to charge. On Sheila's side, Wilber curled into a defensive ball around the baton; Kara's flowers opened, sucking in energy from her surroundings; Larry was standing nearby, his tail orb charging up; Charlie was bulking up; and Shade and Lady moved forward slowly, Lady putting up different barriers and Shade splitting into four different forms with the use of her Double Team ability.

Immediately, Kratos and Rufus met near the middle, but Kratos' head was lowered, rendering him unable to see his target and allowing Rufus to dodge past him with ease. He kept running for about ten yards before stopping with the realization that he missed his target. However, instead of running back to help his team, he looked at Ceto who was floating alone right outside of the sandstorm thirty feet away. When Ceto locked eyes with him, she projected a spike-less icy beam right into his foreleg, causing it to frost over, and he responded by charging towards her.

Ceto floated backwards into the smoky sandstorm when she saw Kratos charge, and when he was about ten feet away, she blasted him in the side with a condensed water pulse, forcing him to tumble into the storm around her. In the meantime, a different situation was heating up on the other side of the field.

With Kratos gone, Rufus and Gilles were able to reach and double team Rey. Sheila's pokemon had not covered more than twenty feet by that point because most of them were playing defense, and her offensive pokemon were slow compared to Chris's and my offensive pokemon.

As he moved in, Rufus sent a dark pulse streaming at Rey, and Rey countered it with a compressed water pulse. The two condensed and streamlined pulses collided with a deafening Crack and the ensuing wave of force pushed them both back.

At that moment, Gilles used his shadow to teleport behind Rey and punch him in the back of the knee with shadow energy, knocking Rey onto his face. As he tried to recover, Rufus closed the distance and used a devastating faint attack. The move essentially warps light around the attacker so that the victim cannot perceive where the attacker will hit. To us trainers, it looked as if Rufus was lunging for Rey's outstretched arm, but right as his jaws touched Rey's skin, his image flickered and he was head-butting Rey in stomach instead, as if his feint was simply a copied image of himself throwing Rey off of his true intension.

The combination of the cheap shot and the faint attack left Rey stunned, but he at least had the good sense to fall over for sanctuary. Immediately, Rufus and Gilles took off towards Pierce and Shiro. When Shiro stepped up to bar their way, he simply stood still and let Rufus past while his eyes glazed over in a hypnotic stupor. At that point, Pierce started running with the baton. His agility had made him faster than both Rufus and Gilles.

Gilles reacted by using his shadow to sucker punch Pierce, tripping him as he ran. In the small time he spent down, Rufus's body erupted in fire and he surged forward at high speed, body slamming Pierce in a fiery collision. Pierce still managed to hold onto the baton, but he knew he was close to losing it. As Rufus lunged for it, he found nothing in his mouth. He did so twice more and each time he would miss. Growing frustrated, he decided to attack Pierce directly instead of trying to grab the baton from the reality warping fox.

Before Rufus could unleash his attack, the baton was wrenched away violently from Pierce's hands. The baton was flung through the air, and it landed on the ground in front of Shade, who had just made a whip-like motion with her hands and wore a mischievous grin. All three of the fighting pokemon just stared in shock for a second before collectively running towards her. Gilles, though, took the opportunity while Pierce's attention was focused elsewhere to send a ray of confusion at him, blindsiding him and sending him into a potent confused state.

After Shade snagged Chris's baton, she psychically flung it over her shoulder before her images converged and split away again in different directions. Rufus responded by sending a dark pulse in bubble form, hitting all four of the images and causing them all to cry out in unison. They did not disappear, but Rufus knew that he had hit the true Gardevoir with his attack.

As soon as the baton was in the air behind Shade, another form was being launched into the air on the battlefield. With a rumble, I looked back to my pokemons' defensive position to see Kratos flying out of the sandstorm with dirt caking his underbelly. I almost laughed when I realized that Azrael had essentially punted him out of the storm with a bulldoze. The force of the impact, coupled with Ceto's previous attacks, rendered Kratos unconscious when he bounced and skidded across the snowy field.

Kratos was returned, we announced his forfeit, and the baton landed in Charlie's feathered hand. Chris's team was incapacitated at the moment, letting my pokemon focus on Sheila's team unfettered. Unfortunately, even though my pokemon were higher level, the two of them faced Sheila's full team of six. They hesitated, trying to figure out what to do, and they received a ray of confusion in response.

Rufus was able to shake it off, but Gilles flew straight up, cackling loudly and erratically, rolling and spinning. Rufus responded by sending out a torrent of smoke to mask his location. It was immensely helpful, for although Sheila's pokemon sent attacks into the smoke, none of them landed. Soon after, Rufus burst from the smoke, covered in flames, and ran straight into Larry, sending him tumbling back.

Then he sent a torrent of fire at Kara, stopping mid-breath to turn on Charlie, knowing that Kara was going to run from the fire. The attack was so sudden; Rufus was amidst them and wreaking havoc so unexpectedly, that he was able to grab the baton with a faint attack and escape quickly after through his smoke. He sprinted all the way to the foot of the sandstorm, with Sheila's pokemon gradually moving closer, and Azrael stepped out to grab it before disappearing back inside the thick storm.

By that time, Pierce and Shiro had recovered, and were waiting for Sheila's pokemon to make a move on mine. As they drew closer, Ceto and Rufus stood at the edge of Azrael's storm, careful not to go too deep for fear of getting pelted by flying debris. Aside from the roaring of the sandstorm, the clearing was silent.

When Sheila's team moved as one large unit to a distance of twenty feet from mine, Rufus and Ceto began shooting smoke and smog into the air in their direction. The combined effort allowed the smoke to fill the area quickly, and since they had aimed their smoke at Sheila's pokemon, they were all cast into an artificial darkness. Soon after, I saw Rufus disappear into the cloud.

The air was quickly filled with the sound of pained cries and Rufus's howling. A minute passed with Chris, Sheila, and I incapable of observing the fight transpiring in the caustic smoke. Rey had re-entered the fight, and stood by Pierce and Shiro, who were all waiting for the smoke to clear. Eventually, Lady flew out and used her ability Silver Wind, utilizing a gust of wind to shoot silver powder into the smoke, filtering some of the smoke out.

The air thinned and we were able to see many of Sheila's pokemon lying on the ground. Charlie, Larry, Kara, and Wilbur were down, but Shade was fending off Rufus with the baton hovering behind her. I was amazed that Rufus was able to do all of that on his own, and showed my support by letting out a cheer. Both Sheila and Chris exclaimed, "Holy Crap!" before Sheila recalled her four unconscious pokemon.

Rufus was advancing towards Shade, though his movements were sluggish and jerky, as if he was suffering from the effects of paralysis, as well as aesthetic injuries. Chris's team saw that as an opportunity to strike and rushed forward. Rey sent a water pulse into the middle of the fight, scattering more of the smoke and knocking Rufus unconscious before he could attack, while Pierce rushed Shade. I quickly returned Rufus while the Zoroark's claws warped into transparent, distorted weapons, and lashed out at the Gardevoir's back, breaking her concentration and forcing her to drop the baton.

Pierce's Night Slash drew Shade's attention, and she turned to recover the baton, but Shiro jumped in to catch it, succeeding and taking off in a separate direction. Unfortunately for him, a line pressurized water shot into his side, knocking him over and causing him to fumble the leathered wood. With the baton airborne, Ceto to let out a triumphant squeal.

The baton landed a few feet from Shiro and was picked up by Lady, who had dived down to retrieve it. But before she could ascend too high, Pierce saw her retreating with the baton and surged forward to deliver a devastating hit with his Pursuit technique. The quick move immediately hurled Lady's prize out of her metal, insectoid hands, and she hurtled through the air, not yet knocked unconscious.

The baton flew up into the air, and as Pierce waited for it to land in his hand, the baton stopped mid-flight. A figure materialized around it, and I quickly realized that it was Gilles. He had finally snapped out of his confusion and just simply snatched the baton out of the air with a giggle. With that, the game was over.

Chris and Sheila let out cries of disbelief and dismay while I cheered for my pokemon. Although they were mad because they lost, Chris and Sheila eagerly agreed to make the games a regular event. We decided to host a game every week, and with each game we would add new rules to make it different and force us and our pokemon to adapt.

I would like to say that my pokemon won every game, but it would be a lie. Chris and Sheila spent as much time, if not more, than I developing strategies which occasionally worked out. However, after they did, new strategies would evolve to combat those; so the game was an ever-evolving, dynamic scenario in which winning was no small feat.

After that first game, we all took it easy for the remainder of the day so that our pokemon could rest. Since Azrael or Gilles had not been hurt, they accompanied me on a hunt for dinner. That night we brought back two Stantler and shared them with everyone who wanted to eat them.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Our training in the forests outside of the Routes dragged on for another month. The temperatures started rising and pokemon began to appear in larger numbers as they awoke from hibernation or returned from their migrations. Our progress was slow, but the quality of our progress was great. After the Luxray pride attack, we were forced to adapt to the wilderness and pay attention to the signs that wild pokemon left. When we found footprints, we did not simply ignore or follow them; we identified them and avoided potentially dangerous situations based on our analyses.

With the variety of training we instituted, our pokemon grew stronger and more competent. Their self-confidence and near-mastery of their own abilities began to match their levels, and we began to have fun, despite the hostile environment in which we took residence. Among the many advancements our pokemon made, Shade was learning to teleport easily with Sheila, Pierce was creating highly-realistic realities, and Azrael was capable of picking up and launching large boulders with Rock Slide.

Chris was making progress with the passing of Jade, but not quickly. His attitude stayed consistent and he turned to training to take his mind off of her, much like I had done with Raeda. However, during our pokemon games, his anger faded and he took joy in the competition for a brief amount of time. Although he was significantly more downcast and angry, he continued to treat Sheila and I with an acceptable level of respect, and because of that, no more fights occurred.

To my delight, I was able to convince both Sheila and Chris multiple times to put off making a significant effort to return to society, allowing us to train for as long as we did. I am grateful that I was capable of doing so, because had I not been able to, I would not have met my fifth team member.

In our sixth week, we happened to be relocating to a different area when Shade started acting weird. She would occasionally and randomly huff loudly. When Sheila asked about it, she would say that it was a seasonal condition. Spring was just beginning, but the temperature was still relatively low and frost continued to coat the blades of grass in the twilight before sunrise.

At one point while we were searching for a new campsite, she huffed and the red horn on her torso started glowing faintly. After we pressed her for information, Sheila told us that Shade said it was a response to a particularly strong mating call of a male of her species, and since it was a psychic call, we could not perceive it. Upon hearing that information, I asked Sheila if she could ascertain the location of the male through Shade, and she hesitantly agreed.

"I'm looking for a psychic-type pokemon, and the Gardevoir/Gallade line is very powerful. If it is a male, and a powerful one at that, then I want to try to catch it," I explained. "Is it not reason enough?"

"I guess not…" Sheila replied before holding a mental conversation with Shade. "She is not particularly comfortable with it, but she says she'll help."

I smiled and thanked Shade before she started leading us through the woods. She hovered along in front of us, occasionally stopping and allowing her horn to glimmer, until we came across a small meadow where flowers were beginning to bloom. Among them hovered a lone Kirlia, and I instantly noticed a couple of differences between the male and Shade when she was a Kirlia. The green hair on the mail was shorter and his tutu-esque natural garment was more slender and form fitting.

"Shade says to hurry up before others are drawn here," Sheila said.

"Alright," I said, looking at my pokemon. "For this, Gilles and Rufus are going to be the most effective. Gilles, I need you to start off with a mean look so that he can't escape, and then try to keep him hypnotized. He's not going to go down without a fight. Rufus, I need you to send narrow pulses at him to weaken him. Ceto hit him from a distance. Azrael, I need you to get in close. Alright everyone, go!"

Azrael, Gilles, and Rufus ran forward, and when Gilles was close enough, he projected his face right in front of the Kirlia, pinning it in place. Then followed a short battle in which all of my pokemon ganged up on and forced him down, but not before he saw me calling the shots, lifted me up psychically, and threw me to the side, resulting in minor abrasions. When I rose from the ground, I took out a normal pokeball and threw it at the Kirlia, hitting him straight in the head.

He disappeared and the ball wobbled for two seconds before breaking open, as expected. While the ball had him trapped temporarily, I had ordered Gilles to hypnotize him once he broke free. When the Kirlia did so, Gilles followed my command, putting the Kirlia to sleep. Then I pulled out an Ultraball and chucked it. The ball smacked him in the head again, and sucked him in violently.

The ball teetered and turned for ten seconds before coming to a stop. "Great job, everyone!" I yelled. "Now we need to befriend him…" I laughed nervously after saying the last sentence, but Sheila stopped me before I could release him.

"We need to leave before more psychic pokemon show up," she said. I agreed and we left, saving my introduction until we found a new campsite.

Later that day, after we settled, I took out the Ultraball and prepared. "Gilles, I need you to give a mean look. We can't have him teleporting away. Azrael, stand behind him in case he tries anything funny." They obeyed as I released my new Kirlia.

He hovered in front of me, disoriented by the mean look for a second. Then he locked eyes with me and his started to glow green. "Azrael!" I yelled, and Azrael roared behind him before shoving him down onto the ground and interrupting his psychic attack. However, that did not stop him from struggling. He fought against Azrael's weight, and then lifted him off with a powerful Confusion. Rufus was immediately on top of him, using his dark bite to cause immense pain.

The Kirlia only stopped fighting when he could not physically or mentally do so anymore. It was both commendable and troubling; if he was going to be so stubborn, he would be difficult to train. As he lay on the ground, breathing heavily, I walked over to him and said, "Hey there. I realize this is a very sudden change and you probably do not want anything to do with me, but I want you to listen. The pokemon who brought you down are my teammates, friends, and family. We will protect one another from anything and everything, so I would think twice before trying to cause us harm. That being said, I'm offering you a chance to be a part of this team. As you can see, we are damn good."

The Kirlia simply glared up at me, so I continued, "Now, this is all going to go a lot smoother if you obey me. If you don't, we'll have problems. You see this?" I said, holding up his pokeball. "This is where you'll go if you don't behave. In there, you will essentially be held in a mental cage. You will be left alone with your thoughts, unable to move or act, until I release you. As much as I hate threatening you, you need to know that I'm serious about all of this. For now, I'll leave you be and I'll allow my companions to talk to you."

With that, I backed away. The Kirlia's face moved and looked up at Azrael, presumably talking to him mentally. I sat down on a log and waited, watching their interactions in case I was needed. An hour passed, during which Azrael got pissed multiple times and displayed his anger by snarling at the newcomer, and the rest of my pokemon took turns communicating.

When they were finished, I returned and said, "Hopefully my team has given you a little perspective now. I would very much like for you to be on my team, and I hope you come to find it worthwhile. For now, I'd like to establish a name to call you."

The Kirlia looked up at me with what looked like frightened eyes before I heard a voice in my head say, prisoner.

I sighed and replied, "If you want to look at it like that, I guess it would be appropriate. But look at the rest of my pokemon. They are not prisoners. We help each other grow stronger and we care about each other. Every one of them, with the exception of Ceto, started off like this. I want to win your respect, but I know it will take time."

His eyes drifted downward and I heard in my head again, I… am… alone… Looking… for… companion… Not… this…

I looked over to Sheila and yelled, "Hey Sheila, is it alright if Shade says hello?" She nodded with trepidation and called to her Gardevoir while I knelt down beside the Kirlia. I said to him, "You know how we found you? Shade sensed your call. If you think you will be alone, you're wrong."

With that said, Sheila walked over to us with Shade hovering beside her, and the Kirlia's eyes widened. For a moment, there was silence. Then Shade huffed angrily and floated away back towards the center of camp.

"Well I don't think that was the greatest first impression, whatever you said," I said with a chuckle. "But I know that first impressions can be worked around with time. You know, I think I know what I would like to call you. How does 'Dante' sound to you?"

The Kirlia looked to me and said, Acceptable… J'Kun…

"J'Kun?" I asked, but he did not reply. "Alright then, Dante. Welcome to the team!"

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Unsurprisingly, Dante was highly intelligent. He learned our language within a couple days, and was talking to me soon after. He was very distrustful of me, and I did not expect that to change any time soon, but he stayed obedient for some reason. He never tried to teleport away or to attack me. Perhaps it was because he sensed my bond with my pokemon, perhaps it was because he secretly did want companionship, or maybe he just wanted to be near Shade. For whatever reason he chose to obey; I did not know or question; I simply took that time to build as much rapport as possible and to develop the beginnings of a bond with him.

I was able to develop a working relationship with Dante, at the very least. He would listen to my orders for the most part, and even participated in our sport. He seemed to try extra hard in those scenarios, most likely intent on impressing Shade, but she always gave him the cold shoulder. I felt bad for him, but I encouraged him to grow. As it was, I was looking into the method of evolving him into a Gallade, which was somewhat complex. Hopefully, though, if I could help him to evolve into a Gallade, not only would I have an exceptional psychic fighter, but I would also prove to him that I could make him stronger, and therefore win his respect.

The Gallade evolution was leaked by a psychic-specialized trainer about fifteen years before I was born, and it has multiple stages. The first is teaching him to fight with its body instead of with its mind. A trainer must teach a male Kirlia to engage in melee combat, which would stunt his evolution during the process. In other words, the Kirlia is incapable of evolving into a pure-psychic Gardevoir when training as a fighter. The second stage is the utilization of a special stone which gives off certain energy. In this case, it happens to be what is called a Dawn Stone. They are very rare and can normally only be acquired as prizes through tournaments or gambling.

It can be a lengthy process, but the end result is worth it. Instead of the Kirlia evolving into a pure psychic powerhouse, it evolves into a psychic knight; extremely fast, extremely deadly, resistant to non-physical attacks, and can even predict their opponents' attacks. Even though they are weak to bug-types, Gallade can put Scyther to shame and can even hold their ground against Scizor.

The prospect of Dante evolving into a Gallade led me to ask for the help of Shiro and Charlie. They gladly accepted Dante into their sparring sessions, though Dante hated it at first. He had no defensive capabilities and ended up being used as a punching bag for the majority of the first week. By the end of the second, he was at least learning to fight back, showing progress.

Two weeks after I caught Dante, we emerged onto Route 7 within five miles of Celadon City. We all fervently weathered the rain and pokemon battles until we reached the city limits, grateful to finally be back to civilization. I looked at my PokeDex. It was March 30th, 53 days after our trial in Vermillion. Winter was over, and now we faced the grass-type gym leader during the season in which plants thrive: Spring. We were finally here, and we were ready.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gabite

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Kirlia

**Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Kara – Roselia

Larry – Ampharos

Lady – Ledian

Shade – Gardevoir

Charlie – Combusken

Wilbur – Sealeo

**Trainer: Christopher Johnson; KA592SA230**

**Pokemon in Possession:**

Pierce – Zoroark

Rey – Golduck

Shiro – Combusken

Kratos – Nidorino

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note:

New chapter! A lot of stuff happened in this chapter, so I hope it was entertaining at the very least. A shout out to Master Edge 2's _Sustenance of Legends_ for giving me some inspiration for my writing. Thanks everyone for reading and commenting! Until next time, enjoy!


	14. Chapter 14: Status and Sheila's Departur

Chapter 14

"Hello! Welcome to Celadon City Pokemon Center 3! Will you be checking in?" the Nurse Joy asked enthusiastically, her face beaming.

"Yes, us and our pokemon, ma'am," I replied.

"Alright then! May I see your pokemon?" We handed over our pokeballs and the Nurse Joy put them in the medical diagnostic machine. "It looks like all of them are in relatively good health. The Center will only need to hold them for the night," she said happily. Then she looked us over and asked, "Have you been out for long?"

"Yes. For almost two months now," replied Sheila with a nod.

"Oh wow! Then I suppose you've heard nothing about the Meteors?" she said with a hint of hesitation. We all shook our heads in response, and the Nurse Joy explained, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but allow me bring you all up to speed on current events. The Meteors is a group that made itself known a little over a month ago. Did you ever hear about the BioTech executive who was kidnapped in the riot over in Pewter City?" she asked.

"I think so, but I was under the impression that he was a building manager," I said.

"He was actually an executive board member. Well, his body was recovered at the BeefTank Miltank farm north of Cerulean City. Aside from his body being found, a barn full of Miltank was set on fire, killing all of the poor creatures inside," the Nurse Joy said, a twinge of sadness echoing in her voice. "His body was nailed to a fence and stuffed with Miltank feed. On the fence was written 'Monsters and their Abominations. Down with human tyranny! – Meteors.'"

Chris, Sheila, and I were shocked, to say the least. An unfortunate side-effect of training far from civilization for extended periods of time is that you lose touch with current events. We all listened in morbid curiosity as the Nurse Joy continued. "Now, since the man's body was found, there have been three seemingly random bombings; two in Pewter City and one in Cerulean City. Unfortunately, no members of the Meteors have been caught since no evidence can be gathered against any suspects. Now Parliament is responding. They are debating the legalization of psychic memory extraction."

This caused me to gasp. The prospect of living in a society where such a practice was legal and common was as frightening to me as the emergence of a terrorist group. This is because psychic memory extraction, often called PME, has several effects. First, not only does the psychic pokemon extract relevant memories, but they also take a large swath of irrelevant memories. Many people believe it to be an invasion of privacy.

The process and side-effects of PME are what make it frightening to me, though. A common side-effect is the loss of some of the extracted memories by the subject. In some rare cases, the subjects have developed brain cancer, but there has not been enough evidence linking PME to the mutation of brain cells. Lastly, the process of extracting memories is a very painful process, and PME has been deemed a form of torture as a result. The thought of it being used on a regular basis sent shivers down my spine.

"Thank you very much for the information," I said, before taking my key and heading to my room to change out of my dirty clothes. Chris and Sheila followed me and changed as well. We then scheduled our gym matches, which were to take place in three days' time, and ordered food from the cafeteria, noticing that Miltank burgers were more expensive than normal.

Afterwards, since it was beginning to get late, we lounged on the PokeCenter furniture, relishing the regulated air temperature. I chose that time to call my father and inform him of my upcoming gym match, and to warn him about my appearance. Nervously, I dialed his number and said, "I need to warn you that I might have… accumulated some aesthetic alterations…"

My father did not buy my charade and said, "Try again. What happened?"

"Well, while we were training beyond the routes, we had a run-in with some powerful pokemon and I was scratched a bit. I didn't inform you earlier because I didn't want you to worry. That, and I didn't have call reception," I said nervously.

"How bad is it? It's obviously bad enough that you felt the need to warn me in advance," he replied perceptively.

"I have some scars on my face," I stated bluntly.

"Do I want to know what it was?" he asked with obvious trepidation.

"Probably not."

"Well tell me anyway," he sighed. "I won't tell your mother what it was."

"We were attacked by a Luxray's pride… But since then we've become much more adept at reading the natural signs and avoiding dangerous situations. We haven't had another incident like that since," I explained quickly.

My father was silent for a while before he said with another sigh, "I'll assume it's not a little scratch. We worry about you as it is, and we worry about you for a reason. You know these creatures are dangerous, and you seem to be going out of your way to put yourself in more dangerous situations than usual."

"I know, and I guess it would seem that way. We are getting stronger every day, though. I've added two more pokemon to my team that you haven't seen yet, and they are becoming just as strong as Azrael, Gilles, and Rufus."

"But you were still hurt," he stated.

"It was a while ago, and we were caught off guard, but we were prepared with medicine. I bought some Blissey Egg syringes for any serious situations I might get into, so it could have been much worse," I said, trying to sound reassuring.

"Well I'm happy that you're taking precautions, but precautions are not enough sometimes."

"I realize that, and I've learned from my mistakes. We haven't come close to another similar incident. We won't be caught by surprise again," I urged.

"Well that's comforting," he said sarcastically. "Your mother and I just don't want to find out one day that you've been killed out in the wilderness, or lose contact with you for so long that we are forced to file a missing person report."

"Well, I hope that my next gym exposition will put your minds at ease. My pokemon have become very strong," I reassured him confidently.

"I hope so. Please be careful," he pleaded.

"I will. I'll talk to you afterwards. I was thinking about visiting home after the gym battle as well. Sheila has told me that she is going to return to Hoenn after she wins her fourth gym here, and she is probably going to stop in Viridian City on her way."

"Then we'll look forward to seeing you. Good luck with your fight."

With that, the conversation was over and I breathed out a sigh of relief. I had been dreading telling my parents that I had nearly died. Now that I had finally done so, I let myself fall asleep in the fluffy couch I was laying on.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

On the second day, after shaving with a cheap disposable razor and a single-portion shaving cream packet, I called Ranger Hershel for an update on the status of the drug investigation. After letting myself become comfortable in a padded pleather armchair, I punched in the numbers on my PokeDex. "Hello, Officer Hershel?" I asked, and he responded in the affirmative. "We just arrived in Celadon after about two months off the route. Has the investigation turned over any more information?" I asked.

"Going off-route? I hope you know what you're doing… You know, technically I should not even be telling you this, but I feel like you deserve some answers," he said, advising me of my privileged position. "Much of our new evidence is restricted to a need-to-know basis, but I'll tell you that the Golbat you encountered in Mt. Moon was not a wild pokemon. In fact, it was identified as a guide Zubat from Pewter, which had since evolved after being stolen."

"Were the Zubat and other Golbat from the other incidents also from the guide Zubat company?" I asked, feeling as if I knew the answer already.

"Well, I'm not at liberty to discuss the other incidents unrelated to yours," he said hesitantly.

"Oh come on! They ARE related to mine! If a human-developed drug is being given to multiple pokemon, then they are all related," I said, quickly growing exasperated.

"Fine. Yes. They were all found to have lettering, or remnants of lettering that the guide company had marked them with. It took so long to identify them because the markings were altered with the pokemons' evolutions, and also because all of the bats' bodies had been torn to shreds. Furthermore, when they were stolen, their GPS locaters were removed, making them difficult to identify. Unfortunately I do not have any more information I can tell you," he said regretfully.

"When you get to the bottom of it, I want you to inform me immediately. I want to be there when you bring down the bastards responsible," I said, feeling my temperature rising.

"No promises, son. Keep clean; we don't want you ending up like Alex. Understand?"

"I guess," I sighed, nodding slightly.

"Alright, keep safe and good luck at the gym," he replied with finality, signaling to me that he was finished talking. I thanked him and hung up, feeling dissatisfied. I anxiously tapped my foot for a few minutes before I left my room to get some food. Afterwards, I planned to leave in order to pick up my pokemon, restock on equipment, and trade my gathered wares. Sheila knew about my plans for the day and had apparently decided to join me, choosing to wait for me in the Center's quiet lobby. After 8:00 A.M., I unknowingly traipsed into her presence.

"I thought you were going to be leaving earlier," she said, sounding slightly antagonistic.

"I called Officer Hershel and found out that the Golbat and Zubat attacks were all related. The pokemon were the ones taken from Pewter City a while back," I said flatly, resulting in a shallow gasp from Sheila, her playful tone being superseded by a serious one.

"Did you find out anything else," she asked.

"No. But I guess I didn't expect there to be much, anyway. I suppose you've decided to join me, then?" I asked.

"Sure!" she said enthusiastically, her serious demeanor changing instantly. "The only thing I have planned is an appointment with the salon at four tomorrow. Until then, I have nothing really to do. I considered playing with my pokemon down in the Activity Cave, but I want to let them rest for most of the day."

"Well then, let's go," I said, leading the way out. She hopped up and followed, radiating pep which contrasted with my stoic gait.

We first visited a Trainer's Trader, passing by the Celadon City gym along the way where we saw a group of trainers cheering as one amongst them walked through the large gym doors with a Toxicroak by his side and a shiny metal badge-shaped license on his lapel. It sent a wave of excitement through my veins because I knew what it meant. It meant that when I beat Celadon's gym leader, I would finally be able to keep my pokemon out of their balls inside city limits.

At the Trainer's Trader, I sold my pelts and other valuable pokemon parts. Then I purchased the TMs Reflect and Light Screen for Dante. Lady had attempted to teach Dante the techniques, but the bug pokemon's conception of the move was too foreign to his psychic-based mindset, so I was forced to purchase the techniques.

From there, I visited the Pokemon Traders' Guild to sell the few pokemon I had chosen to capture instead of kill when they attacked us out in the forests. The pokemon I had accrued included a couple Noctowl, a Raticate, a couple Deerling, a Nuzleaf, and a Skuntank, gaining me a modest sum of Pokebucks.

I was gradually gaining more money, so I started looking in to the re-purchasing of my uncle's land. It was not cheap, but I had confidence that, with my help, my family could buy back the land. I was at least able to put a small payment down over the net to keep the property off the market, which seemed to be an unnecessary but assuring decision, given that no one had attempted to buy the land ever since it developed a bad reputation. Until we could afford to pay it off in full, keeping the land unavailable to others was the most I could do to.

After I was finished, I found myself with several hours of sunlight left, so Sheila and I simply headed out to Route 7 for a short, easy practice to prepare for our gym battle. Rufus and Gilles would be my hardest hitters, and my other pokemon could hold their own, so I was not too worried about the battle.

"So what are your plans after the gym?" Sheila asked. "After you're done visiting Viridian, that is."

"Hmm," I hummed in contemplation, "Well I was thinking that I would head to Vermillion to challenge the Dojo again, and then to Cerulean to compete at the Nugget bridge again. After that, I was thinking of spending some time off-route again to prepare for Saffron. What about you?"

"Well I was thinking that I would challenge my father and then challenge the gym at Lavaridge. After that, I am not sure. I could continue on with the circuit or I could come back. But if I come back, I will have to catch up to you," she explained as we sat on the cool grass.

"I can't say for certain how long we will take, but we can wait for you. We would be training, of course, but we could wait up for you, if you want us to," I said hopefully.

"I'll think about it," Sheila said back. We sat in silence for a few minutes before she continued. "I'm worried about Chris. He hasn't been the same since Jade."

"I haven't been the same since Raeda," I replied. "These things change people."

"I'm worried about how he's changed. Chris seems to be holding in a lot. You need to take care of him," she said. I was silent. "I'm serious. I think you can help him. Just try to be a little more tactful with him, please?"

I looked over to find Sheila gazing at me pleadingly. "I'll try my best, Sheila," I responded. She was silent.

"I hope that's enough," she said finally. We continued to sit and wait for the sun to go down, relaxing with our pokemon. I noticed that Azrael was beginning to exhibit signs of an impending evolution, such as the formation of rudimentary webbing on his arms and his body was beginning to elongate. I was proud that he was progressing so quickly, but I was somewhat nervous about it at the same time. After all, dragons can take decades to fully evolve out in the wild.

My thoughts flew in different directions, sometimes worrying about my pokemon, sometimes lingering on battle strategies, and sometimes focusing on the topic of Sheila's return home. Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by an echoing mental voice.

J'Kun, am I to fight for you at your tournament?

I looked at the Kirlia slightly floating nearby. I interpreted his look as one of defiance, so I asked, "Are you willing?"

Do I have a choice?

"If you do not want to fight, I won't make you," I replied.

If you will not make me fight, then what is my purpose to you?

"I want you to make my team stronger," I said, choosing to be honest. "My hope is that you will grow to want to fight with us. I honestly believe that you can make us stronger, and I believe that, in the process, we can reciprocate your contribution. I've told you before that I consider all of you to be my family. As such, I am invested in your well-being, your success, and our relationship."

And you do not wish to compromise our relationship by forcing me to fight against my will… Yet I was forced to accompany you against my will.

"I will admit that you are correct on that," I conceded. "But how am I supposed keep you around long enough to earn your respect? At the very least, we've kept you safe and tended to your needs, so it can't be that bad, can it?"

I did not need your help to remain safe.

"I'm well-aware that you are more than capable, Dante. But I stand as proof that being adept at surviving might not always be enough," I retorted, pointing at my scars. "I survived the night of the Luxray attack because I had friends. Whether you want to accept us or not, we are your friends, and we consider you a part of our family."

Dante looked at the rest of my team. Azrael, Gilles, Rufus, and Ceto gazed back at us with looks of expectation and confidence. After keeping his gaze leveled at them for a little over five minutes, he looked back to me and said, If it is your wish that I fight, J'Kun, I will fight.

I smiled at him. "Thank you, Dante." Dante responded by nodding slightly, and Rufus plodded over to sit down beside him. I caught Azrael looking at me over them, and when I met his eyes, he did not avert his gaze.

"You certainly know how to inspire," Sheila said, her voice coming from next to me. "It's scary."

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

With Sheila to my right and Chris to my left, I waited upon a green-cushioned chair while listening to the dull groaning of the crowd. Rufus sat beside me, allowing me to scratch his fur with cathartic zeal. Once again, I would be the first of our three-person team to compete, and I waited for my turn with growing excitement.

My turn came in time, and when it did, I rushed to enter the grand stadium. The humidity hit me first. It was warm and musty, and I immediately felt my skin growing sticky. Varying shades of green assaulted my vision next, blurring into a mosaic of ferns, leaves, and tall grass, broken by the wiry tendrils of branches which held them aloft. Lastly, the smell of natural oxygen invaded my nostrils, sending a heavy wave of euphoria rushing through my brain.

I felt the warmth of the sun on the back of my neck and looked up, finding the ceiling of the arena nonexistent. The walls rose up and curved inwards, tapering off into a topless dome. As I walked along the well-trodden dirt path, I finally registered the sound of the spectators. My information and gym record had appeared on a large screen, showing me at 3-0, and the audience was hopeful that, because of my record, I would give them a good show. Of course I would not disappoint.

Gym Leader Benjamin Buell stood waiting for me, clad only in black cargo shorts and a camouflaged t-shirt. He had long brown hair tied in a Ponytatail, green eyes, and a lean body. He held out his hand as I approached. "Welcome to the Celadon City gym, trainer," he greeted as I took his hand in mine. "Link your pokemon now. Simple rules: switch out your pokemon if I tell you, you can use up to three potions, three substitutions, and no attacking me or the people in the stands. Fight clean, and good luck!"

I nodded and took my place at the designated challenger's spot after linking all of my pokemon into the system. Five pokeballs were spread out beside my profile, and four were spread out next to Leader Buell's. The stadium's speakers rang out as the commentator announced, The Challenger takes his position!

As soon as the signal was given, I released Ceto. Originally, I had no intention of allowing Ceto to fight, but I changed my mind for several reasons. The first was that Ceto had yet to participate in a gym battle, and I did not want to keep her from experiencing it. The second was that, unlike at Vermillion, Ceto was not completely powerless here. She had the ice beam technique which is highly effective against grass types. The last reason was that I knew we were much higher than the league standard, and I could afford to make the gamble so that she could have a shot. The challenger has released a Seadra! I hope it can hold its own against Gym Leader Buell's team.

The sound of a pokeball being activated rang out from Leader Buell's side of the arena, and the stadium went quiet. I could not spot his pokemon. Of course the grass pokemon would use the foliage as a natural cover. Ceto hovered at the edge of the arena, waiting for my order. "Ok, Ceto! Remember what we talked about! Go find him!"

Ceto floated into the brush, her spikes visibly protruding above the grass. The challenger's Seadra is making its way to the pond. On her way to the small body of water, a cloud of powder exploded around her. Immediately after, I heard the sound of Ceto's ice beam being unleashed, and I saw the flash of its light before Leader Buell returned his pokemon and his voice sounded through the speaker. "That is a strong Seadra. Good job! Switch your pokemon." The Seadra has taken Gym Leader Buell's out?! What an amazing start!

I was stunned and proud. I had confidence in Ceto, there was no doubt of that, but I was not expecting her to knock out a gym pokemon with one shot. And I did not even see her opponent or know what it was! I cheered for her and returned her, noting that her pokeball registered her as asleep. What will the challenger send out next?

I went out on a limb and released Dante. He looked around wide-eyed and I yelled, "Dante, keep your eyes open. Your opponent will be hiding in the foliage, so try to locate him psychically. Then take him out with a Psychic or two. If you get into trouble, teleport away!" The challenger has sent out a Kirlia!

Dante visibly recoiled from the sound of the commentator's booming voice and the roar coming from the stands, and froze in place. "Dante! Snap out of it!" I yelled. None of my pokemon had ever had this problem before; he looked as if he was overwhelmed to the point of shock. "Dante!" The Kirlia is not responding!

Before Dante could snap out of his stupor, a three-foot-tall, dull-yellow sauropod burst from the concealment of the dense foliage, charging towards Dante. It had leaves growing from its neck, one toenail on each foot, and a scythe-like leaf on its head which gleamed sharply in the sun. The Bayleef collided with Dante, sending him tumbling away. It followed up the body slam by whipping its head around and unleashing several palm-sized leaf shruikens at him. They all impacted Dante, embedding themselves into his body.

Gym Leader Buell's Bayleef has the Kirlia on the ropes! I looked at Dante's pokeball and found that he was at 35% of his health. I was somewhat impressed that he could take the hits, but I concluded that it was because of the physical training I had been putting him through. "Dante, fight back!" I yelled and injected a potion into his pokeball.

The difference between using a potion directly and using one on a pokeball is that when you use it on a pokeball, the potion's effectiveness is significantly decreased. It heals the pokemon just as quickly, but for a smaller portion of their total health.

Dante rose from his prone position, his eyes glowing green, and I sighed in relief. The Bayleef was lifted off of its feet and slammed down into the ground. Dante followed up his psychic attack with another, slamming the Bayleef with a psychic force and sending it flying backwards. The Bayleef did not let up, though, and continued its assault. More razor-sharp leaves flew at Dante, but he was able to dodge the majority of them.

Dante's eyes glowed green again and the Bayleef was lifted up. Instead of crashing back down into the ground this time, the Bayleef was flung towards Dante, rebounding off of the ground as he spiraled forth. Dante rushed forward toward the Bayleef and slammed into him, and the collision sent both pokemon flying in opposite directions. Dante lost consciousness from the hit and I returned him as the Bayleef attempted to stand on wobbly legs, but failed and fell over, losing consciousness as well. What a crazy turn of events! The challenger's Kirlia has fought back to a draw! What pokemon will the challenger use next?

"Good job, trainer!" Leader Buell's voice rang from the speaker. I debated who to send out next and decided on Azrael, choosing to save my two most effective fighters for the end. Azrael appeared before me, a hulking, healthy dragon ready to tear his opponent apart, just as Leader Buell released his next pokemon. The challenger has sent out a huge Gabite! This should be interesting!

I saw a flash of green as a pokemon darted into the brush. I watched as tree branches shook in one half of a second, and then a patch of grass shook from over ten feet away in the next half. It grew faster, zipping around through the shrubs, and Azrael charged into the forest, releasing jets of flame as he cut through the undergrowth. Soon after, a large green lizard hit Azrael from behind, slicing him with a bladed leaf before quickly darting away.

Azrael attempted to turn and slash at the lizard, but it was too fast. It continued to dart in and out, relying on the dense foliage and its superior speed, augmented by Agility, to avoid Azrael's attacks. Eventually, after a few minutes of Azrael failing to land a hit, the commentator announced, The Gabite cannot seem to hit his opponent. This might take a while… I decided to switch tactics. "Azrael! Burn down the forest around you!"

He complied, whipping his head around in a wide arc and spewing a constant stream of fire. The fire caught and spread in a ten-foot radius around Azrael, destroying any cover that the Grovyle could take advantage of. The quickened lizard attacked again, but this time, Azrael could maneuver around and counter. With a wicked Dragon Claw, Azrael tore through the Grovyle's side, heaving it several yards away in the process before Buell recalled him.

Azrael roared in triumph as Leader Buell said, "I'm tempted to skip my last pokemon and use two advanced pokemon. This is no contest. You're pokemon are much too far above the standard. What do you say I give you a more difficult challenge?"

Without thinking about it, I responded, "Bring it on! This is what we trained for!" to which Leader Buell chuckled. Soon after, the large screen showing his remaining pokeball changed, and the commentator announced, What do we have here? Gym Leader Buell is skipping to the second stage. And he's using two pokemon!

I released Rufus at the sound of the whistle and Buell once again spoke through the microphone. "I see you saved your best for last. Good strategy, but predictable." And the challenger brings out a fire-type!

Rufus faced off against a four-and-a-half-foot-tall cactus scarecrow. It made a move and I yelled, "Flamethrower!" Rufus let loose a torrent of furious heat, bathing the slower pokemon in fire. It screeched and disappeared, reappearing quickly behind Rufus in his shadow, and hitting him with a spiked fist and drawing blood. After his attack, I saw the Cacturne's shadow receding from an elongated state. The Cacturne backed off as Rufus reeled around to meet him face-to-face and retaliate.

As soon as Rufus turned, the Cacturne lunged forward in a Faint Attack, hitting him in the side with another spiky fist and drawing more blood. Rufus reacted by lunging at the human-esque cactus with a fiery bite, and latching onto its thigh. The fire from the bite burnt its flesh as Rufus shook violently, and the Cacturne launched some needles into Rufus's face, causing him to let go.

Rufus then blew more fire at the Cacturne, which started using Leech Life, taking Rufus's vitality from a distance. For as much health as it tried to regain, Rufus's fire was too much, and the Cacturne finally toppled over. With a congratulatory compliment, Buell recalled his pokemon and ordered me to show him my last. I obeyed and released Gilles while Buell released his last pokemon.

A Haunter! This will be a tough one for Gym Leader Buell to win! Gilles was intimidating as a poison-type against grass, but Buell sent out his own formidable beast. He released a Tropius, a fifteen-foot-tall sauropod with a long neck, four gigantic wing-like leaves on its back, and hardened leaves covering its face like a helmet. It roared and I immediately shouted, "Blood Boil!" Gilles immediately vomited a spray of poisonous liquid at the Tropius's face and neck which began to infect the large dinosaur-like pokemon's bloodstream, poisoning it badly.

The Tropius responded by sending a violent tornado containing razor-sharp leaves at Gilles, slicing at him repeatedly. After that, Gilles showered the Tropius with a spray of black liquid which reacted with the toxins in its bloodstream. The Tropius visibly seized and roared in agony, spitting out darkened blood. That looked incredibly painful! I don't know if Leader Buell's Tropius can take another hit like that.

The Tropius quickly tried to put distance between itself and Gilles by using Whirlwind. It succeeded in blowing Gilles about fifty feet away. Then its wings opened up and started taking in energy from the sun. I was yelling for Gilles to move as the Tropius let loose a greenish yellow beam of light. Gilles used that moment to extend his shadow and sucker punch the Tropius, successfully evading the attack. The Tropius then used another whirlwind to send Gilles far away from it.

The Tropius attempted the same tactic again, but Gilles took the initiative and did something both awesome and horrific. He started charging up an energy ball, which I recognized, but I did not see any foliage withering. I then heard an agonizing groan from the Tropius and looked over to see his body starting to shrivel. Gilles was taking the natural energy for his attack from the Tropius, stealing its own vitality and using it against it. Legendaries! I have never seen this before, yelled the loudspeakers in shock.

I stared in shock as Gilles painfully withered away the Tropius, and then sent the ball of energy crashing into the Tropius's face, searing away and disintegrating half of it completely. The crowd erupted in groaning and a few screams as blood splattered from the Tropius's neck and brain matter fell from its opened skull. I recalled Gilles, and Benjamin Buell ran onto the field while the announcer groaned with the crowd. I did not know what to do.

I was mortified, so I ran to the Tropius to find Leader Buell sitting over its neck. He was shaking and stroking the lifeless pokemon's neck. "I-I…" I stuttered. Buell did not look up. "I didn't know he could… I never would have told him to… I'm so sorry!" I sputtered. When Buell still did not respond, I simply hung my head and sat down.

Eventually the commentator spoke out and said, Well ladies and gentlemen, this is a dangerous sport. These things happen. On behalf of Indigo League, I apologize for the gruesome spectacle you just witnessed. The next match will take place in thirty minutes, so feel free to take a restroom break or to purchase some water.

I did not move until Leader Buell finally rose from his position and addressed me without emotion. "Trainer, you have overcome the Celadon City gym challenge, and as such are rewarded the Rainbow Badge. You can head back to the Victor's booth to receive your monetary award and the Giga Drain TM. From there, you can head to the Indigo League office to become certified for an Adept's License."

Leader Buell handed me the small Rainbow badge and looked me in the eyes. "As for what happened, this is the gamble we make when we send our pokemon into the ring. I've never seen Energy Ball used like that before, and hopefully I never will again. I do not hold anything against you, for Titus has taken the lives of countless others in the ring. It is not intended, but it is a reality." He gave me a solemn smile before motioning me to the door.

"Thank you, sir. Once again, I apologize that it turned out this way," I replied. He gave a crisp nod and I took one last look at the Tropius. Until then I had avoided looking at its face, and I quickly regretted my decision. Although I had seen many dead pokemon as a result of hunting, seeing half of the pokemon's face missing, loose brain matter falling out of the other half, and blood pooling from the wound caused my heart to tighten. I then left quickly to collect my prizes and finish my certification.

I left half-an-hour later with a shiny license pinned upon my lapel. There was clapping as I left with Rufus beside me, but I did not feel the excitement that I had expected to feel at that moment. I chose to leave without watching Sheila's or Chris's matches, for I felt sick and needed to get away from the gym. Instead of heading directly back to the Pokemon Center, I headed out to Route 7, and while I en route, I received a message from Leader Craul. It said, Congratulations, kid. Brutal victory. Welcome to the big leagues. If you ever find yourself in Pewter City, don't hesitate to stop by. I smiled and continued on my way after sending a thankful reply.

When I left city limits and entered the route, I released my pokemon, using a revive on Dante. With the exception of Ceto, everyone was somewhat battered. "Hey everyone," I addressed my pokemon. "Good job today. We triumphed in the end. Ceto, I'm impressed. You knocked out your opponent with one beam!" Ceto squeaked happily in response.

"Dante, well done!" I said looking at him. He was not looking at me, however. He was meeting the proudly beaming gazes of my other pokemon. He looked back to me with an expression that radiated pride and happiness for once, as opposed to defiance and resentment. "You really came through for us today, Dante. And you got a taste of the battles we engage in."

I do not feel as trapped anymore, J'Kun. And the earth wyrm is encouraging.

"He is?" I asked, giving Azrael a smile. "What did he say?"

He tells me that he respects me for choosing to fight, and that I could not have performed as I did without you all. I agree. It was overwhelming and intimidating, but also thrilling.

"We will only get stronger. Our opponents will get stronger as well, but we will not stop until no more opponents can make that claim. Thank you, Dante, for fighting with us."

He only gave a proud smile, so I continued. "Rufus, great job, as usual," I told him, scratching his neck. "Azrael, you never disappoint. Great job," I said to my starter, gaining me a throaty hum in response. Finally, I addressed Gilles.

"Gilles, you continue to surprise me," I said and he chuckled. "That energy ball technique was horribly effective. Honestly, that can really come in handy if we ever need to use it. I assume it can only be used on grass-type pokemon, though, so that particular use is limited. I won't say it was a bad thing because this is what we train for, but I think you should use it like that in moderation. Your other abilities are still very powerful. And on that note, great job with the blood boil poison combo, Gilles. It was perfectly executed." He continued to chuckle, wavering in the air.

"Everyone, great job," I said to them all at once. "I wanted to bring you all out here before going to the Center so that I could congratulate and thank you all for your efforts. For beating that gym, we have now gained new privileges. Now, whenever we enter a city, up to two of you can accompany me outside of your pokeballs; that is, until one of you becomes too large, and in that case, only one large pokemon can accompany me at a time. For our way back, I think I will have Azrael and Gilles accompany me, since I want the remainder of you to rest."

I walked back to the Center with Azrael and Gilles in tow, and received both frightened and impressed looks from bystanders. It was a new and exciting experience to walk through the PokeCenter's large sliding doors with my pokemon. I received a congratulatory smile from the Nurse Joy before she told me to recall them so that they would not ruin the floors. I acquiesced before I checked in my pokemon. She then told me she would need to keep my pokemon until the afternoon of the next day. Soon after, I received a call from my father. I took a deep breath before I answered the call and braced myself.

"Scratched a bit? You call that scratched a bit? Your mother has been in tears since she first saw you. Legendaries, how could you stay with it after that?" my father chided.

"I know the dangers and I was careless," I sighed. "It won't happen again."

"Not to mention what you did to that frightening creature," he continued, ignoring what I said. "This is horrifying!"

"I realize that, father, but in this sport, these are the realities we have to deal with. Trainer pokemon are killed in the ring all the time; the difference is that the situation was reversed in this battle."

"How can you expect us not to worry about you when we see those scars on your face? Or when you have your pokemon rip such a monstrous beast to shreds? That could easily be you!" he fretted.

"Yeah it could, but it won't!" I exclaimed. "My pokemon will make sure that I survive. And they would never do that to me because they know I would do anything for them. I am helping them grow stronger than they could ever hope to become on their own, and they recognize that! The tragedy that occurred in my fight was just as much my doing as it was Gilles'. We have a special connection, and you will see that when I return home."

My father fell quiet for a few seconds. "We are tearing our hair out here with worry. I don't think we will ever understand what motivates you to keep pursuing this," he sighed. "I wish you would just pursue a college degree. It's safer and lucrative."

"But that's not me. I don't want to go to college. I like the life I'm leading. It's difficult and dangerous, but it is the most rewarding way of life I can imagine. And I'm GOOD at it. I have only lost a handful of battles out of a couple hundred. And I think you underestimate how lucrative pokemon training can be. But that's beside the point. It's my dream and I won't throw it away for safety."

My father sighed again, and I heard my mother say to him, "He almost sound like you when you were younger…"

"Well, we look forward to your homecoming. Please let us know when you plan to arrive," he sighed in submission.

"I will. Tell mother that I'm sorry," I said, and then ended the conversation.

I leaned back into the chair with relief, letting my nerves ease. About ten minutes later Sheila and Chris returned from the gym and entered the lobby. I was so withdrawn in relaxation that I did not notice them, and Sheila had to say my name and shake me before I snapped out of it.

"We heard a lot of what happened from the speakers and from some of the spectators. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just shocked at first and I felt bad for Benjamin Buell. I didn't want to stay there, so I left. I'm sorry I missed your matches," I replied.

"It's alright. We both won our matches. I just can't believe Gilles can do that. They said he sucked the Tropius dry and blew its face off," Sheila said with a sickened look.

"He used an energy ball, but drew the energy from the grass pokemon instead of the flora. The Tropius couldn't withstand it because he was already so weakened from poison, and Gilles released all of the energy onto its face. There wasn't a whole lot left," I said, somewhat frightened at the lack of emotion I felt. It is not like I did not care, I just knew the reality of pokemon battling and I did not need to fear or hate Gilles' powerful attack.

"It seems like it was frighteningly effective," mentioned Chris in a non-judgmental tone.

"It was," I replied.

"Well, how about we get something to eat," said Sheila, wanting to leave the awkward situation. "I'm starving, and we need to talk about what we are going to do next."

We nodded in agreement and made our way to the cafeteria.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Finding a transportation service turned out to be easier than we expected. We searched the net on our PokeDexes for teleportation services in Celadon, and found a family business within five minutes. Teleportation was a quick method of travel, for a fair price. Depending on the strength of the psychic pokemon, a person could travel to and from any city in Kanto. A few local psychics in Saffron City are strong enough to teleport to Johto, but none are capable of teleporting to more distant territories such as Hoenn or Sinnoh. Furthermore, teleporting with someone else in tow is more difficult than teleporting alone, limiting psychic pokemons' ability to teleport multiple times in a day.

We paid an old man 150Pb per person to be teleported to Viridian City, and his Alakazam transported us to a Pokemon Center in center city. We thanked the man and made plans for Sheila's birthday the next day. Before the big day, Sheila and I decided to visit our respective homes and meet up the following day at around 10:00 in the morning.

I extended an invitation to Chris to join me, and he accepted, so we both traveled together to my parents' house. During the time I spent walking, I kept Rufus and Dante out of their pokeballs, since Rufus was well-behaved and less intimidating than Azrael, and I wanted to show Dante the marvels of human civilization. Chris traveled with Pierce and Rey, who were also very well-behaved.

When we finally arrived, Chris and I returned our pokemon for the sake of convenience and considerateness before I knocked on my family's door. I was greeted by my father whose right shoulder was occupied by the Torchic I had left in his care. It chirped happily and my father smiled, though his smile disappeared when I saw his eyes focusing on my scars.

"Hello, father," I said with a smile. His smile returned as he extended his right hand to my shoulder, grasping it fondly. "And hello…" I said, looking at the Torchic.

"She's Frieda," he answered, reaching up and receiving a peck from the little bird. "Welcome home. Is this your friend?" he asked looking past me.

"Yes, this is Chris. Chris, this is my father, Pat MacAfee," I replied, introducing my friend.

My father shook Chris's hand and led us inside. It smelled of meatloaf and cinnamon air freshener, which I found delightful, and my mother soon emerged from the kitchen, bringing with her a more concentrated scent of the cooking meat and a trailing Numel. When she saw me, she rushed over and put a hand on my face, gazing at my scars with grief. "Do they hurt?" She asked me.

"Not at all," I replied. "It's not as bad as it looks."

She gave me a disbelieving glare and brought me into a hug. "I can't stand thinking about you out there, being attacked by Luxray."

I glanced over at my father and mumbled, "I thought you weren't going to tell her."

"He shrugged and replied, "After seeing your scars on LeagueWatch, I didn't have much of a choice, now did I?"

I turned my attention back to my mother. "Well take your mind off of it with how well I'm doing," I said, trying to be calming and diplomatic. "You saw how well I fared at Celadon."

"That doesn't make me feel any better! You killed another pokemon on live television, and I've never seen such an intimidating creature before," she said, her tone never changing. Chris and my father shuffled awkwardly behind me, giving me another reason to assuage my mother's nerves as quickly as possible.

"To be honest, I did not know that Gilles could do that. It is not a technique I will employ indiscriminately because I don't try to kill my opponents' pokemon."

"It's still frightening. What if you can't control him? Or the rest of your pokemon for that matter?"

"I've made it this far without an incident from any of my pokemon. We trust each other and look out for one another. If you don't believe me, I will introduce you to my new pokemon outside. Chris can also vouch for me," I said. Chris only nodded, apparently not wanting to take part in the argument.

My father finally spoke up and said, "I would like to meet your new pokemon. Especially the Houndoom." He then started for the back door and my mother put her hands on her hips.

"Patrick! Aren't you going to say anything to him?" she asked my father.

"We haven't seen him since last year. I don't want to spend our time fighting with him. It will do us no good," he said with finality, which my mother seemed to accept, albeit reluctantly and indignantly.

I breathed in a sigh of relief and followed my father out the back door to the large enclosed field. Frieda remained on his shoulder and Pako followed beside my mother. Blazerunner met us at the back door, nuzzling my father and flaring up slightly. "Alright, boy, a few pokemon are going to join us. I'll need you to be calm, alright?"

Blazerunner responded with a small whinny and another flare of his fiery mane. "Alright, whenever you two are ready," my father said, turning to me and Chris.

Chris looked to me and told me to go first, so I released all of my pokemon in the order in which I had obtained them. Azrael came out, followed by an awed gasp from my parents and an uneasy bray from Blazerunner. Then followed Gilles, whom I had to command to behave, for he looked at Blazerunner with a mischievous cackle. My mother and father had seen him before and they were still wary, though they were slightly reassured when Gilles submissively relaxed.

Then I released Rufus. He looked at Blazerunner and then at my parents, who were slightly frightened at his appearance. "Rufus, these are my parents." He walked over and sniffed them, eliciting nervous laughter from my mother and excited laughter from my father. Rufus seemed to take a liking to my father, who scratched his fur on the top of his head, and he sat down beside my father while Frieda chirped at him from my father's shoulder.

Then I released Ceto. She hovered beside me, and after I informed her that she was meeting my parents, she squeaked happily and blew a small stream of bubbles at them. My parents laughed as the harmless bubbles impacted their clothes, and then they admired her sharp scales and fierce appearance.

Lastly, I released Dante. This time, my mother was the one to stare in wonder. These are your family, J'Kun?

"Yes," I replied, and I had to explain to my parents that Dante can communicate with me telepathically. However, when my parents tried to talk to Dante, he would reply to me instead of to them directly. "Why don't you just respond to them, yourself, Dante?" I asked.

It is my choice to communicate with Yeshka. And I choose only to speak with J'Kun.

"Dante, you are an interesting character," I said to him in bewilderment. "And confusing." He seemed amused at my statement, but he did not respond, so I just let it go. I was not close enough with him quite yet to press issues that he might not be comfortable discussing.

Chris released his team after I finished, filling up the immediate vicinity with more pokemon. When he released Shiro, the Torchic on my father's shoulder chirped excitedly and jumped over to him. The Combusken looked muscular and battle-worn next to the somewhat pampered Torchic, but they recognized each other and rubbed up next to one another with joy. In the end, our yard was filled with a gargantuan Gabite, a Haunter, a Houndoom, a Seadra, a Kirlia, a Rapidash, a Numel, a Torchic, a Combusken, a Zoroark, a Golduck, and a moody Nidorino.

Despite the large amount of pokemon clustered around us, chaos did not erupt and my parents were able to form a more intimate connection with my pokemon. The result was that my parents were able to gain a rudimentary understanding of the family dynamic between me and my pokemon, which allowed them to put more faith in my pokemons' loyalty towards me. Thankfully, this helped to alleviate much of their stress.

In the afternoon, after we ate a nice meatloaf lunch, I started putting together an idea for a gift for Sheila's birthday. Chris and I left my parents' house and I took him to a couple local stores. We visited a home development store and an arts and crafts store. At the former, I purchased a small bag of pure silicon sand, and at the latter I asked an employee about the creation of glass. He directed me to a different employee who educated me about the complex methods of creating glass.

I had simply believed that all I had to do was melt the silicon sand into glass, but apparently I was wrong. He gathered a plethora of different materials which would lower the melting point of the sand, give the end product strength, and cause it to take on a certain color. I purchased the assembled materials as well as a thin metal chain after listening to him for almost an hour.

From there, I took Chris to the ruins of Ray's Breeding Grounds. By the time we arrived, we had both released all of our pokemon, and Azrael had grown a little more excited. When we entered the central clearing, Azrael let out a howl and ran down into his old burrow. I followed him with Chris in tow, and we ended up in his old nest. There, I lay down against Azrael and talked to Chris about the history of the place.

An hour later, we emerged from the burrow and I set to work with the materials I had purchased to make Sheila a gift. I had done a little research and found that the temperature of a common campfire is roughly half of the heat required to melt sand into glass, and I hypothesized that Rufus's fire may be able to reach the required temperature. I had no idea how hot Rufus's fire was, but I was willing to bet that it was much hotter than a common campfire.

I asked for Dante's help, and after he agreed, I instructed him to telekinetically hoist two balls of sand the size of a golf balls – one with the coloring chemicals and one without – into the air about fifteen feet away from himself. While Dante held the clumps still, I ordered Rufus to breathe a steady flame over the sand until the two masses melted. My plan was for Dante to hold the orbs of liquid glass apart until they melted, and then attach them into one final orb, half clear and half viridian in color.

In our first attempt, Rufus was able to melt the sand after about seven minutes, and when they melted, they shrank to the diameter of a quarter. The size of the two orbs was perfect, but the color was off on both of the clumps; the colored clump was much too dark and both orbs had black streaks running through them.

I had to start over and reduce the amount of coloring chemicals I added to the formula. When I did so, the melted glass took on a lighter shade of viridian, but both of them still had dark streaks running through them. I was confused for a while, but then I realized that since Houndoom fire is produced with certain toxic chemicals, it probably reacted with the formula to create an additional color.

I was fine with that snag, and decided to continue with the project instead of ordering Rufus to use pure fire. Dante was able to connect the two masses of melted glass, and then I told Ceto to douse the hot glass. It was not a wise decision because when it cooled so fast, the glass ball exploded. I was far enough away that I was not seriously hurt, but I still received a chunk of glass in my forearm. Dante was luckier, simply creating a barrier between himself and the shards of glass, and Ceto's dense hide protected her from harm.

Flustered, cursing, and bleeding, I began the project anew, while Chris sat off in the distance reeling with laughter. Rufus heated the sand clumps to the point where they melted, and Dante molded them together into a single mass with a narrow hole running through its sides. Then he pulled out a small circle – about a quarter of the size of the orb and overlapping both the colored and non-colored halves – and swirled it around to form the button of a small glass pokeball.

Then he held the orb aloft for a while as the wind slowly cooled it down. When it was cool enough, I plucked it out of the air and ran the metal chain through it. The gift was finished. It was a necklace of a small, inch-and-a-half-long glass pokeball, with a viridian top half, a swirled button, and black streaks running through it.

By the time we finished, night had fallen, so we returned to my house. After dinner and with the help of my father, I looked online at the price of buying back Uncle Ray's land. With the money I made selling pokemon, I could afford to buy the land back outright, though it would take over half of my funds to do so. While my father objected to my offering, I simply decided to buy the land back anyway and present it to him.

I did so early in the morning, before my father awoke. I bought the land back for 30,000Pb, and when my father finally emerged from his bedroom, I had already printed the deed and laid it out on the table. His surprised expression grew to one of anger and he chastised me for using my money so impulsively. I told him that I had thought about it for a long time, so it hardly qualified as an impulse, and it took him a couple hours to calm down and accept my decision.

When my father finally came to terms with the situation, he thanked me while clearly expressing his disapproval. I suggested to him that it might be wise to repair the fence next, which would not be cheap, and that maybe one day we could build a house nearby. I left afterwards, giving my parents the gold nugget I earned at the Nugget Bridge as a gift, as I was going to challenge it again soon.

Chris and I then spent the day at Sheila's sister's house. We talked with Sheila's sister and learned that her husband Charles was busier than ever these days. BioTech was lobbying for different objectives, including PME. However, since Charles was against the legalization of PME, he was able to work on a different project – one that reduced the limitations on private security. Elaina explained that BioTech doubted the government's ability to keep its products and services safe from the Meteors and rioters, so it was lobbying for legislation that would allow it to hire certain mercenary companies, such as The Hannotate from the Fuchsia area, to protect its assets.

For lunch, Elaina presented Sheila with a cake, upon which sat an iced rose, and we sang for her happy birthday. Then Elaina produced a small wrapped box from within her bag and offered it to Sheila, who quickly unwrapped her present. She pulled out a small stone that glowed with a brilliant yellow/orange aura. It was small enough to fit in her hand, and she was dazzled by its brilliance, which seemed to reflect even the smallest source of light.

"Is this… Is this a Shiny Stone?" she stuttered. Her sister only smiled and nodded, and Sheila jumped on her with a hug. I was confused and apparently so was Chris, for he held the same expression as I. "I didn't think you would actually get one!"

When Sheila saw us looking at her with a lack of understanding, she explained, "When I beat Benjamin Buell, he told me how to evolve Kara, and it involved one of these. They are really rare!" Chris and I recoiled with understanding. Elaina had given Sheila a magnificent gift, indeed. Sheila then gave her sister another hug, radiating pure joy.

At that moment, feeling inadequate, I chose to withhold giving Sheila my present until later, and we moved on to more conversation. Then Chris, Sheila, and I went back to my family's newly re-purchased property and spent time with our pokemon, taking it easy since it was Sheila's birthday.

Later that night, Sheila's sister took us to a club called Free's Pollen, which displayed a large Butterfree holding a mug above its entrance. It reminded me of the Drunken Drowzee, but with different music, different people, and a dance floor. Elaina gave Sheila some shots to start her off, and Chris and I bought a beer.

Elaina kept buying Sheila drinks as the night progressed, Chris kept ordering beer and mixed drinks, and I took it easy, choosing to refrain from becoming inebriated. Elaina kept up with Sheila, but I could tell she was more practiced at it, for she did not exhibit signs of intoxication until much later in the night.

During that time, Chris was approached by a girl who hit on him and lured him away from us. We watched Chris buy her a drink, and Sheila glared at him from our table and said, "Look at him over there! She's not even that pretty. And now they're kissing!? What a brute!" True enough, I looked at Chris and found his face pressed against the girl's.

"It almost sounds like you're jealous!" taunted Elaina with a laugh.

"HA! Jealous of him? There's nothing romantic about kissing a stranger at a bar!" cried Sheila belligerently.

"You're jealous that someone is actually kissing him, and not you," said Elaina, laughing louder. Sheila glared at her sister and then pouted.

I was smiling at their interaction when Sheila looked over at me. "Oh no! Don't look at me!" I said. "I'm not getting involved!"

Sheila pouted more and Elaina elbowed her in the side. "Come on, let's go dance, Sheila." Sheila smiled and jumped up excitedly. Then Elaina looked over to me and asked, "Are you coming?" I responded by shaking my head and Elaina said, "Aww, come on. Are you embarrassed?"

"Very," I said flatly, and then I leaned back in my chair. Elaina shrugged and went out onto the dance floor with Sheila. I watched them for a little bit before ordering another beer. Then I scanned the crowd for Chris, but I could not find him. After my beer was delivered, I walked around in an attempt to locate him, and in the process, passed by Elaina and Sheila.

Sheila immediately reached her hand out, grabbed my arm, pulled me onto the dance floor with her, and started dancing in front of me. If the lights weren't so low, Sheila could have seen that Ho-Oh's fire could not have burned brighter than my face. I stood stunned, holding my beer awkwardly, but Sheila did not even seem to notice that I was not dancing. Elaina, however, did notice my lack of movement and started laughing.

"At least bob your head or something!" she yelled over the din of the music. I embarrassedly obliged, and started moving back and forth awkwardly as Sheila obliviously lost herself in the music. For once, I was knowingly self-conscious and happy that she was drunk, because had she not been, she would have noticed my inadequacy.

When the DJ transitioned to a different song, I tried to slip away from the dance floor. When I made a move to leave, Sheila lunged and caught me in a powerful hug. Not knowing what else to do, I hugged her back, and then tried to back away, but she held on. The hug lasted longer than I was prepared for, and I ended up standing awkwardly once more, though this time Sheila was latched on to me.

Finally, she leaned back, looked at me with glazed-over eyes, and said with a drunken grin, "Mm you have pret-ty eyes." I could smell the alcohol on her breath, as well as the perfume her sister had allowed her to use, and I felt uncomfortably flattered.

"…Thanks," I replied, giving her a half-sincere smile.

Her grin intensified as she leaned her head back and laughed, causing her to wobble off-balance. "All right now, Sheila. Maybe you should sit down before you hurt yourself," interjected Elaina.

"N-no. Not yet," murmured Sheila, obviously out of her mind. Elaina responded by half-dragging, half-carrying her over to a chair so that she could relax, and when we released her, she looked at me again and said, "Don't chu go gettin' a girlfriend when I'm gone… ya hear? You're too special for these bimbos!" As she talked, she slurred her words and motioned around herself erratically.

I was beside myself with confusion. It was short-lived, however, because Sheila almost passed out on her chair. At that point, Elaina and I decided it was time to go home. I did one more sweep for Chris and, finding him absent, left with Elaina. The subway ride home was thankfully quiet, for Sheila managed to fall asleep next to Elaina, who watched over her for the entire trip.

When we arrived at Elaina's house she offered me a bed, and I accepted because I was feeling a little woozy from the small bit of alcohol I had consumed. I sent my father a message, telling him I was staying with Sheila's family for the night because I did not want to wander the streets at that time of night, and then I fell into a deep sleep.

I awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs, the sound of someone cooking in the kitchen, and the sight of an orange weasel staring at me from atop my comforter. Joey the Floatzel did not even move as I awoke, which left me staring awkwardly back. "So, uh, Joey. Mind letting me up?"

The Floatzel made no move beyond cocking his head slightly to the side. I sighed and attempted to sit up despite him partially sitting on me, but he let out a growl which made me stop. He was baring a set of razor sharp teeth at my face, and as soon as I stopped, he did as well. "So you are going to keep me imprisoned here, then?" I asked. Unsurprisingly, he did not respond. "I have to use the restroom. If I don't, I might piss the bed," I threatened, but he continued to stare at me.

I made another move to sit up, but he bared his teeth once again. Thinking rationally, I knew that a Floatzel could tear me to pieces fairly easily, but I was still a little groggy and out of it, so I became frustrated quickly. With an exasperated groan, I sat up and attempted to throw the orange weasel off of me. However, he was much quicker than I, and simply hopped over to the side of the bed as I pushed up. He brought his claws up to his face and squeakily chuckled, making me turn red with indignation. "Oh, we have a funny one here, huh?" I said sarcastically.

Joey continued to squeak, so I threw the comforter over such that it would envelop the pokemon upon landing, and he dodged out of the way. As I stood up, I received a jet of water to the face, and as I looked over in annoyance, I saw him chuckling as he ran out the door. Well, I'm awake now.

"Morning!" said Elaina, cheerfully, as I meandered into the kitchen. "Sheila's not up yet, but I thought I should make her a little pick-me-up. She had quite a lot last night." She chuckled and looked at me, and then saw my somewhat annoyed expression and damp hair. "Was Joey messing with you? I thought he looked a little too happy for this time of the morning. I apologize for his mischief."

"Don't worry about it. Though I think my Haunter and him would get along splendidly," I said with a small shake of my head.

"Really? It's funny because he's been likened to one before," she said with a giggle. "Well I hope you had a great sleep! Want some bacon and eggs?" I nodded enthusiastically and thanked her as she set a plate full of both in front of me. "I remember when I was a trainer… I ate so much but I never got fat. Can't do that anymore!" she said cheerfully. I never thought anyone could be more cheerful than Sheila, but I stood corrected.

Eventually, Sheila trudged into the dining room and sat down. Elaina giggled and gave her a plate of food and a glass of orange juice. "So how was your sleep, Sheila? You look like a Grimer!" Elaina playfully jibed.

"Shut up. My head is pounding," replied Sheila, annoyed.

"You really should learn your limits, Sheals."

"Mhm. I'm sure, now let me eat in peace. And quiet." Both me and Elaina snickered and acquiesced.

When we were finished, I asked Sheila, "Hey, so when are you planning on leaving?"

"I have a plane ticket for tomorrow at noon," she replied.

"Oh, well I'm going to head over to the Breeding Grounds. Come see me if you feel better, but definitely come see me before you leave," I said. Sheila nodded and I left. I then sent a message to Chris to ask if he was still alive and to tell him that I was headed to the Breeding Grounds.

Thirty minutes later, I was standing with all of my pokemon in the clearing. "So here's the plan, everyone. Our next stop is Vermillion, where we will challenge the Dojo again. From there, we will head back to Cerulean to compete in the Nugget Bridge Tournament again. If we win, we might be able to win a Dawn Stone for Dante. After that, we will be back in the wilderness again, training for Saffron City. Now, we need to figure out who will participate at the Dojo and Nugget Bridge. I want to give as many of you a chance to participate as possible, so I won't use the same one of you in both challenges. Azrael, I want you with me at the Bridge. Now, for the Dojo, who wants to participate?"

As I expected, every one of my pokemon stepped forward, or in Ceto's and Dante's cases, hovered forward. I sighed with pride, "You guys aren't making this easy. Let's see. Rufus, I let you compete with Azrael at the bridge last time, so I'll use Ceto this time. For the Dojo, I'll use Dante. Your psychic abilities will prove very effective against your opponent there. Gilles and Rufus, you both will sit those ones out, but don't worry; I'll let you both fight later on." My pokemon seemed content with my decision, and even Dante did not heckle me about his participation.

After a training session and a hunting trip, Sheila stopped by. We were roasting a couple Pidgey when she entered the area, and she announced herself by allowing Lady to fly into our campsite. "Hey, Sheila, how are you feeling?" I asked.

"I'm feeling alright now," she responded, traipsing over to sit down next to me. "Azrael looks like he's about to evolve. I'm kind of sad that I probably won't get to see it."

I noticed her look of melancholy and said, "Well, I'll message you whenever I challenge a gym, and if you are near a Center, you can watch. Of course, that is if he doesn't evolve outside of the gym. You better let me know when you challenge a gym as well."

"I will," she said with a smile.

"By the way, I have a gift for you. I wanted to give it to you yesterday, but I changed my mind after your sister gave you that stone. So, here you go," I said as I pulled the viridian glass pokeball from my bag and handed it to her. "When my uncle gave me a Greatball, I wore it around my neck for over a year before I used it to catch Azrael. I hope that you will think of me whenever you see it."

"It's beautiful…" said Sheila, turning it around in her hand.

"Oh, and it's unique. Dante, Rufus, Ceto, and I made it by melting sand," I added.

"You made this!?" Sheila exclaimed, looking shocked and impressed.

"Sure did. I wanted to get you something special to remember me by, since you're leaving."

Sheila blushed and hugged me tightly. "Thank you so much! It's beautiful," she said. She held the hug for a while, and I started noticing where my hand touched her back. I felt the slight indentation of her ribs through her shirt, and felt the soft touch of her hair against my cheek.

When she let go, she looked me in the eyes, wordlessly. She leaned forward slightly, but then stopped, as if she were hesitating with something, and sat back with a smile. She then put the necklace on, and the viridian glass orb sat at the base of her neck. It looked beautiful on her and I almost felt the need to interject something, but then the silence of the clearing was disturbed by Chris's entrance.

Sheila looked over at him, trudging noisily toward us, and exclaimed, "Chris! We were worried about you! Where were you?"

"Yeah, you disappeared from the bar last night and I couldn't find you," I added.

"Oh. Well…" he said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well I sorta left with Brooke…"

"Brooke? You went home with her!?" gasped Sheila.

"… I guess," said Chris, even more nervously than before.

"Don't tell me you…" trailed Sheila.

"I don't want to talk about it. Can we please talk about something else? How was both of your nights? Did you have a great birthday, Sheila?" he asked, seemingly desperate to change the topic.

"Oh. My. Legendaries," Sheila exclaimed. "Well I hope she was worth leaving us and not telling us where you went!" she said with exasperation. "And I hope you didn't forget to use a condom."

Chris was bright red with embarrassment by that point. "Please, Sheila, can we drop it? I'm begging you."

"Fine. But I'm still mad at you," said Sheila. She gave him a weak glare and turned her attention to her pokemon. Shade was hovering about fifty feet away with Dante close by, but she did not seem to be paying any attention to him.

"I think Dante likes Shade," I said quietly.

"You think?" laughed Sheila sarcastically. "I tried to talk to her about it, but she keeps evading my questions. I hope she doesn't hurt Dante too bad, though I wish I knew why she won't acknowledge him."

"I do too," I replied back. Maybe once he evolves, she will be more noticing."

Sheila was quiet. Chris sat down next to us and said, "I hope you guys aren't whispering about me."

Sheila laughed and shook her head. "Why so paranoid? Do you have something to hide?"

Chris went red again, and Sheila and I laughed louder.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Viridian City airport loomed closer and the streets grew more congested with taxis after we exited the subway. The sound of honking threatened to bring me out of my auto-piloted reverie in which I struggled to accept that Sheila was leaving. I knew it was not the last time I would see her, but I could not help but feel dismayed. Sheila had spent the past seven months training, suffering, and growing with me, and I felt like I was about to lose something special when she left.

A flash of light from Sheila's pokeball finally snapped me out of my thoughts, and Shade appeared hovering next to Sheila. Now that we had left the subway, where most pokemon are not allowed, I chose to follow suit and release Dante. This place smells dirty, his mind conveyed.

I ignored his complaint and walked with Sheila and Chris toward the large building with the sign "Indigo Airlines" on display. We walked in silence until Dante's voice once again rang in my mind. When will your companion return?

I raised an eyebrow in curiosity and said, "Not for a while, Dante. Why do you ask?"

The maiden will go as well, he replied bluntly. He did not elaborate, but I knew what he was insinuating; he did not want Shade to leave.

"I know what you mean, buddy," I said back, and Dante's countenance took on a brooding character. When we finally arrived at the entrance to the airport, we walked inside and Sheila checked in her backpack. Then we stood together for the last time before she continued on through security.

"Well, it's been fun. It's also been scary, tough, and sad at times, but it's been so worthwhile," said Sheila to me and Chris. Her countenance saddened and she said, "Chris, I really enjoyed your company and I wish you the best of luck." Then she looked at me and said, "I'm so happy we met. I don't think my pokemon would be as strong as they are now if not for you, and I personally owe you my life. Please be safe!" She then looked to both of us and said, "I would ask you both to come along with me, but I have a feeling you wouldn't accept. I'll return eventually, so don't write me off. And please keep in touch!"

While Sheila, Chris, and I bid the other farewell, Dante and Shade hovered near to one another and looked as if they were having their own conversation. When Sheila finished, she stepped forward and gave Chris a hug, and then me, though our hug lasted significantly longer. As she let go, I felt my voice catch in my throat as I felt the need to say something, but failed. I simply ended up saying, "I can't wait until you come back, Sheila. It won't be the same until then." She gave a sad yet radiant smile and turned away.

When Sheila turned, Shade bent down and looked Dante in the eyes, her eyes glowing bright blue, and then she turned to follow Sheila. We stood and watched Sheila disappear into the security check, returning Shade to her pokeball in the process, and we finally left when Chris said, "Well, let's go get something to eat and figure out what we are going to do now."

I agreed and we left the airport behind, feeling a strange emptiness within me. It persisted through our meal, during our planning to head to Vermillion via teleportation, and during my final visit to my parents' house before we continued on. It continued to persist as we paid to be teleported to Vermillion, checked in to a PokeCenter, and made an appointment to challenge the Dojo the next day.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

True to my word, I prepared Dante to fight alongside me at the Dojo, and I fitted him with the Focus Band for good measure. Dante wasted no time in training with Shiro the night before our challenge, who only held the advantage when Dante chose not to use his psychic abilities. Dante would not hold back at the Dojo, but he chose to fight Shiro without them anyway. While they sparred, Chris and I sparred as well, and even though I never lost, I gave him pointers and helped him with his form.

When I walked through the doors of the Fighting Dojo, I felt prepared and I had full confidence in Dante. The only light in the building came from torches on the walls and on poles in the ground, which made the light wavy and dim in most places. Soon after our arrival, my name was called and I progressed to the dim sparring circle.

The rules were different this time. Instead of a simple sparring match, I was faced with a sumo-style fight in which the winner must force his opponent out of the circle a total of three times. The same rules applied to pokemon, except that they must force their opponent out of the ring a total of five times. Knowing this, I gave Dante a very specific and simple plan of action.

I released Dante and his opponent was called out. It was a Hariyama, a seven-foot-tall humanoid beast. It looked to weigh around 500lbs and took a sumo stance. My opponent was slightly taller than myself, was fairly buff, and wore a white dobak with a blue belt tied around his waist. He took on a low stance in front of me.

I squatted down in a low stance as well, and the referee took his position. I looked over to Dante, who gave me a quick nod before the referee signaled us to begin. I immediately moved forward to try to shoot in for a leg, but the martial artist was more experienced than my previous opponent and sprawled on top of me, effectively stopping my attack.

As I struggled to pull his leg in, I heard a loud crash and looked over to Dante's ring. Dante was hovering in the middle of the circle while the Hariyama was pulling itself up from a prone position outside of the ring. I rejoiced inwardly and pulled in as hard as I could while pushing forward, succeeding in pulling in my opponent's leg. I then stood up while bringing his leg to my chest, and moved forward, forcing him to hop on his other leg to keep balanced. When I reached the edge of the circle, I pushed him back and he fell outside of the ring. At the same time, I heard another crash from the other ring, so I looked over while my opponent returned to the center of the mat and saw the Hariyama once again lifting itself from the ground outside of the pokemon ring.

We resumed our match and I used the same tactic as before, shooting in for my opponent's leg. He responded in the same manner, sprawling down on top of me and shoving his hip into my shoulder. Another crash sounded as I pulled in his leg once again, feeling my strength rapidly starting to fail me. I started pushing him back to the edge of the circle again, but he chose to collapse instead of keeping his balance, taking me down with him to stop my advances towards the edge.

When we fell to the mat, he put his foot against my chest and pushed away, throwing me from him. I tumbled back a yard and rolled to my feet to see the Hariyama in the other circle flailing in the air before being flung away with a crash upon impact with the floor. My opponent ran forward while my gaze was focused on my pokemon and body slammed me back, forcing me to stumble backwards. Luckily, I was able to recover and hold my ground against his push, but at that moment, the match was stopped because a roar and a crash sounded near the other circle, marking victory for Dante.

I was awarded a Muscle Band, which supposedly increases the strengths of physical attacks, and I wasted no time congratulating and praising Dante. He humbly accepted my praise before I thanked him and returned him to his pokeball. It was now Chris's turn.

I sat in the wooden bleachers and watched as Chris released Shiro and took his own place on the mat. A Machoke was released and a boy a few inches taller than Chris, with a blue, white-striped belt stood in front of him. When the whistle sounded, the boy moved backwards towards the edge of the ring while Chris moved towards him. Chris imitated my strategy and shot in for a leg, but his opponent held still, grabbed the sides of Chris's chest, and flung him around. The momentum of Chris's dive coupled with the martial artist's momentum-diverting twist sent him flying outside of the ring.

During that time, Shiro was attempting to kick the Machoke's legs out from under it, but was not having any success. When Chris returned to the center of the circle, his opponent moved forward and pulled him into a tight bear hug, trapping his arms against his sides. He pulled Chris's waist tight and threw him off balance, and then surged forward with Chris unable to stop him and flung him out of the ring once more.

At that moment, Shiro managed to quickly maneuver behind the Machoke and kick its legs from behind, causing it to fall forward, and then he slammed it from behind and forced it out of the ring. Chris returned to the center of the ring with dread in his eyes and braced himself for another round. This time, he took a defensive stance and waited for his opponent to attack.

Chris's opponent moved forward and attempted to put Chris in a bear hug again, but Chris squatted down and wrapped his arms around the martial artist. Then Chris lifted up quickly, turning in a circle in the process, and dropped his opponent when he started flailing. The drop put his opponent off-balance and Chris followed up by shoving him out of the circle.

I cheered for him and I noticed that Shiro once again knocked the Machoke out of the ring. Chris took on a defensive stance once again as his opponent entered the ring. The martial artist moved forward and exposed his waist again, which Chris took advantage of. Once again, Chris wrapped his arms around the martial artist, but this time, the martial artist pushed out his back, bent over, and wrapped his arms around Chris's body from above. Then he started moving backwards as Chris struggled to pull him in and gain control of the grapple.

When Chris's opponent pulled him within five feet of the edge of the circle, he bent his knees. Then he straightened his legs quickly while holding onto Chris and arched his body backwards, suplexing Chris. However, instead of holding onto Chris for the entire suplex, he let go of Chris mid-motion and sent him flying out of the ring. I groaned as the reality sank in; Chris just lost the match.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Gabite

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Kirlia

**Trainer: Christopher Johnson; KA592SA230**

**Pokemon in Possession:**

Pierce – Zoroark

Rey – Golduck

Shiro – Combusken

Kratos – Nidorino

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note: Well we're down to two people again. The MC has now killed an opponent's pokemon by accident – and after he was having such a great bonding moment with the gym leader. Oh well, shit happens. And Chris having a little fun at the club? Who saw _that_ coming? Fun stuff. More to come!

After writing this, I received an excited review that the MC's last name was finally revealed. I would like to suggest that if you read the MC's last name for the first time in _this_ chapter, you should re-read the first few chapters, as I added much when I refined the writing and context – especially the first chapter – such as the last name of the MC. I apologize for the confusion.

Lastly, thank you everyone for commenting thus far. Please continue to comment because I always enjoy reading your reviews and it gives me an idea about what people are specifically taking note of in each chapter. Until next time, Happy Holidays!


	15. Chapter 15: Determination to Improve

Chapter 15

"Don't worry about it, Chris. You can always come back to challenge again in a month. We just need to work on your fighting skills," I said to my dejected compatriot.

"Yeah, whatever," he simply said back.

"Although, you could have just used Rey like I used Dante to force the Machoke out of the circle with psychics. In fact, that probably would have won you the match easily. I know Rey's abilities are good enough," I said thoughtfully.

"I get it. I'll just have to train Shiro better for that kind of fighting. Maybe work more on attacking legs…" said Chris, trailing off in thought.

"Or you could just use Rey and get it over with quickly," I said, growing slightly annoyed that he was ignoring me. Chris continued to blankly look at Shiro's pokeball. "Chris, why don't you just use Rey!?" I said, raising my voice to catch his attention.

Chris rounded on me, his face full of anger, and exclaimed, "Because I want to do it differently than you!" I was taken aback from his sudden outburst and remained quiet. "Your way may work, but it's not the only way. Shiro is perfectly capable of winning that fight with a little training, and I will not deny him that opportunity."

I just stared back at Chris in shock, not finding anything to say back. He eventually looked away and resumed his thoughts. After about three minutes, I stuttered, "I-If you want help training Shiro, my pokemon won't really be able to help until Dante evolves. However, I can help you personally prepare for a rematch if you need it."

"I'll let you know if I do," he replied flatly.

"Alright, well… We should probably be making plans to head out, then. Since today is Thursday, the next Nugget Bridge tourney will be held tomorrow. We might be able to make it if we hurry, and the price will be less since it isn't as far to Cerulean from here as here was from Viridian," I continued awkwardly.

Chris nodded and we quickly found a listing with multiple psychic transporters. We decided to use the nearest service and were able to teleport to Cerulean within half-an-hour for 80Pb. When we arrived in dull flash of light, we quickly checked in to a Pokemon Center. Then, we immediately attempted to contact the Nugget Tourney to find out that they closed admittance for that week's tournament due to a large amount of trainers who had already signed up.

"…Well it looks like we're a bit early," I said good-heartedly.

"A week early, to be exact," said Chris emotionlessly.

"Well that gives us a week to train and prepare, I guess," I said. I brought my hand to my chin in contemplation. "I haven't been north or east of Cerulean yet, so maybe we could settle in one area and focus simply on training."

Silence befell us for a few minutes before Chris nervously said, "I think maybe we should train separately for the tournament."

I blinked. "What for? Training together gives our pokemon some variety."

"I'm not going to use the same pokemon as I did last time, and I'm sure you aren't as well. This way, we won't be able to see until the day of the tournament," he said, his voice becoming more resolved.

I realized that he was taking the tournament seriously, and he thought he could possibly beat me. It came as no surprise when I thought about it, really; I would hate to follow someone and never expect to surpass them. I looked at him and said, "Alright then. I'll head east and we'll see each other at the tournament. Good luck, Chris."

Chris's face seemed to lose its strained look and he nodded to me. I then returned my room key to the front desk and signed out before giving Chris a final nod and heading out the door, releasing Azrael beside me as I left and scaring multiple trainers and civilians who happened to be passing by. Azrael huffed and followed close by.

"Well, bud, it looks like we are all going to be training together like we used to for the next week." Azrael gave a pleased hum in reply which I found slightly surprising. "Chris thinks he can beat us, so he's training alone." At that, Azrael chortled, eliciting a good-hearted shove from me. "Hey now! Chris isn't so bad," I said to him in Chris's defense.

Azrael peered down at me with the dragon equivalent of a "Maybe, but he's not that good," look. I laughed, patted him on his haunches, and said, "Yeah, I know his team couldn't beat you. Just trying to have a little faith in him. Though it's difficult to do so when he's trying to beat my team."

There was one place whereby I needed to stop before I left, and an hour later, I was leaving BioTech's pokemon trainers department with two copies of the T.M. Thunderbolt and one copy of the T.M. Surf. There were two pokemon on my team who could use Thunderbolt, and it would give my team an edge over water and flying pokemon.

I released Azrael again and we progressed out of the city. I linked the T.M.'s to their intended pokemon, as well as linking the T.M. I received from Vermillion's gym to Dante's pokeball, and when we left city limits, I released my team. I relayed the message I gave to Azrael to them all, and we started searching for a good place to camp out.

Route 9 is a mountain road that curves and winds in a gradual northeastern direction through the mountain range north of the Rock Tunnel, and ends at a village on the coast. Route 9 is roughly 150 miles as the Murkrow flies, but it is actually closer to 215 miles, due to the curving nature of the road.

The mountains loomed in the distance outside of Cerulean, and it took us the majority of the remainder of the day to reach the foothills. At that point, dusk was only a couple hours away, so we continued along the route. Eventually, we came across a river, which was wide and raging due to the melting snow, and across which spanned a bridge. We crossed the river, and instead of continuing along the route, we turned north and followed the river up into the slopes.

By nightfall, we had found a small meadow bordering the river. Wild pokemon were plentiful and we had little difficulty procuring a meal. While the majority of us hunted on land, Ceto chose to remain in the river and catch fish by curling her tail around fallen debris at the bottom of the river and catching the fish as they passed by in the current. Most of the time, though, she remained close to the shore where the currents were not as strong.

When camp was finally established, I addressed my pokemon. "Here we are everyone. We have a week to train for the Nugget Bridge tournament. This means that Azrael and Ceto will be the main focuses of our sessions, but it does not mean that the rest of you can slack off. I have some ideas for some customized adaptations of your abilities that I want you all to start working on, and I want you two - Gilles and Dante - to work on Thunderbolt. Dante, you will also be working on Thunder Wave. We'll take it easy tonight, since we traveled all day, but we'll be picking up the intensity in the morning. Since we won't be traveling, our sessions will be longer, so prepare yourselves."

My pokemon all gave cries of excitement before Rufus started a fire and I sat down with my PokeDex to form a week-long training routine. When I turned on my PokeDex, I noticed there was a message from Sheila.

Hey there! Have you challenged the Dojo yet? If so, then did your rematch go well? I'm sure you and Chris both did very well, but let me know anyway! My dad was happy to see me, and he scheduled a gym battle with me for Monday. Wish me luck! Until then, Larry is having fun acting superior to all of his bigger Flaaffy brothers. They don't think it's as funny as he does, hehe. Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone and let me know as soon as you can! –Sheila.

I scratched the back of my neck nervously as I dreaded telling her about Chris's misfortune. I carefully wrote back,

Hey, Sheila. The Dojo went well for me, but I'm sad to say that it did not go so well for Chris. You should probably talk to him more about it; Chris lost his own match before Shiro could win his. Now we've split up for a week to train independently for Nugget Bridge since Chris thinks it will help to keep us from knowing each other's strategies. I'm east of Cerulean in the mountains, near a river and a small meadow which all looks beautiful and serene. I'm glad to hear that you are doing well with your father and that Larry is having fun. Lastly, I don't think you will need any luck; you have this! You've already beaten the electric gym leader here, so it can't be that different, right? Well, let me know how it goes. I'll be here for the next week.

I sent the message and opened up my 'notepad' application on my PokeDex. For the next hour and a half, I was lost in my program plan. When I finished, the stars shone down from the heavens with pinpointed brilliance, the moon was bright, the night was clear, and the pulsing cries of Nincada rose and fell with a hypnotic rhythm that lulled me into a deep sleep against Azrael, outside of my tent.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The beginning of our five days of training started early. I wanted to see if Azrael could perform two different techniques, and I wanted him to have a lot of practice with them by the end of the week. The first was a move that I would call Doze-Ring and it was a variation of Bulldoze. Azrael had become somewhat proficient with altering the dimensions of his bulldozing, so I hypothesized that he could alter the move to send a wave coursing in every direction around him. It would be a difficult move to perfect and it would take a long time, but it could be very useful in a situation where there are multiple opponents surrounding Azrael, or where Azrael's opponent is too fast for him to hit with a concentrated attack.

The second was another variation of Bulldoze which I called Doze-Storm, but it was defensive. The idea was for Azrael to launch a wave vertically from the ground and immediately summon a sandstorm. Ideally, the dirt kicked up by the Bulldoze would be sucked into the storm, making it much more dense and difficult to see through. In time, Azrael could possibly use Doze-Ring in tandem with Doze-Storm for a denser and more obscuring storm.

With Rufus, I had a difficult task on which I wanted to begin work. As dark-type pokemon become stronger, they are capable of using shadows and darkness to greater effect. Just like how Gilles can extend his shadow and travel through it, a sufficiently strong dark-type can meld with and travel within areas devoid of much light. This ability opens up an entirely new strategy for combat, as well as variations of his current move set.

I needed Ceto to become faster over land if she had any hope of dodging attacks in battle. It would also be nice for her to be able to keep up when we were traveling faster than an amble. Lastly, I wanted Ceto to begin learning how to "surf." I knew that once Azrael evolved, he could learn the powerful water technique, but it would never be as strong as Ceto's. Learning how to control a vast wave of water would also give Ceto more control over water in general, as it takes immense amounts of energy to control the volume of water required for the move. This in turn would make her capable of moving her body faster over land.

Gilles and Dante worked on creating thunderbolts, sometimes on each other when Gilles was feeling mischievous. Aside from that, I was working on Gilles' ability to extend his shadow and take me with him. It was tedious, as he could only transport me a few feet at a time, but by the end of the week, he could transport me up to ten feet. It would take a while for him to perfect the move, but it would be worth it in the end.

Being an alpha psychic, Dante already knew how to teleport. However, his proficiency with the technique was limited to a few long distance jumps of about a mile per day, or many shorter jumps. To develop his teleportation skill, I had him working on "power" teleporting, which I defined as single-jump, distance-based teleports, and "endurance" teleporting, which were many foot-long jumps in quick succession until Dante tired out. Lastly, I developed Dante's ability to teleport with me by repeating the same two teleportation drills with me in tow.

Sheila messaged me on the following Monday to tell me that her battle had gone well, but was much more difficult than Vanderstein. Apparently her father had really let her have it partly as punishment for disobeying him and partly in an attempt to break her training spirit so that she would abandon her journey. But Shade and Kara in particular had pulled through for her. After she won, her father had issued a formal apology and pledged to support her for the rest of her journey. I responded to the message with my congratulations and I wished her luck in the next stage of her journey.

The results at the end of the week were astonishing. Azrael was able to perform Doze-Ring well with five-foot swells, and he was able to brew a sandstorm through which I was incapable of seeing more than a couple feet. Gilles was able to bring me ten feet through his shadow, and his thunderbolts could fry a Pidgey without a problem. Ceto learned to lift a wave of water about ten feet high and ride it along the raging river with ease. In addition to that ability, she became capable of moving at twice her normal speed. Dante's teleportation skills advanced so quickly that he was capable of teleporting a mile with me and five miles without me, and his skills with electricity matched those of Gilles'.

Rufus showed the most improvement out of all of my pokemon. By the end of the week, he had learned to disappear in one shadow and appear in another less than a second later. During our night sessions, he was quickly making progress in separating himself from the physical reality to travel freely through the darkness. After he mastered that talent during the night, he would be able to start working on it during the day, which would also add more dimensions to his combat style.

At 5:00 in the afternoon on the day before the Nugget Bridge Tourney, I started packing up camp. After I finished, Dante teleported me down to the Route proper, and then again to within a mile of the Cerulean City suburbs. I walked the rest of the way to the city with Dante and Azrael at my side, and checked in at the Pokemon Center, where I headed straight to bed.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"Chris!" I yelled, spotting his natural brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles. He saw me briskly walking towards him and smiled. "I hope you trained well because my pokemon have some new tricks up their sleeves," I said with friendly competitiveness.

"That goes for you, too," Chris replied with a smirk. "Look, sorry for being so gruff with you last time we spoke. I know you were just trying to help."

"Don't worry about it, Chris. I'm sure I would have been just as gruff if I was in your shoes," I said.

Chris's smile remained and we made our way to the stands. There were 16 trainers challenging the Nugget Bridge that day, including me and Chris, which was half the number of challengers who took part in the tournament the previous week. As we sat down, a nearby boy scooted towards us and said, "Hi! Are you both participating?" He looked at us with brown, eager eyes and we both nodded. "Cool! My name's Ryan and I just got my third badge a week ago, so I came straight here to see how I would do. It's my first time; what about you both?"

"We've both competed here," Chris answered. "In fact, I was runner up last time I competed. That was when I had two badges; now I have four."

"Wow… Who'd you lose to?" he asked, astonished.

Chris simply motioned to me and awe passed through the kid's eyes, quickly followed by despair. "Aw man… A champ and the runner up in my first tournament? What did I get myself in to?" he said dramatically, putting his face in his hands.

I simply laughed and said, "Don't worry kid, it'll be quick."

The kid groaned in his hands and I noticed a bunch of people in the vicinity looking at us. Among them was a boy surrounded by three girls who called out, "Quite the claim, there. Can you prove it? Where's your gold nugget?"

I scoffed at him. I had nothing to prove to him and he would lose soon enough, to me or someone else. The boy started laughing and called out again. "Of course you don't. And kid," he said, switching his attention to the boy groaning in his hands next to us, "Don't believe everything you hear. You can go by what you see for yourself." The boy lifted a glinting golden object from his pocket and tossed it up before catching it and putting it back with a wink. The three girls giggled annoyingly and scooted closer to the boy as the announcer started calling the names of the participants for the first two matches.

Keith Mulback and Ryan Dunne to Field A. Christopher Johnson and Jenna Fields to Field B. The boisterous kid rose with a dramatic stretch as his name was called, Ryan, the kid who had been groaning in his hands, stood up with an audible sigh, and Chris hopped up to take their places on the fields. Chris released Shiro against his opponent, a Makuhita, Keith sent out a Lucario and Ryan sent out a Geodude.

Chris easily won against his opponent, never having to switch out Shiro, while Keith ruthlessly beat down Ryan using only his Lucario. A few more battles passed before I was called out to the field, where I faced off against a slightly younger boy. When the whistle sounded, I released Ceto and my opponent sent out a Gloom, a two-foot-tall, bipedal grass pokemon with a flower on its head and sap-drool dripping from its mouth. My mouth twisted in a grin as I yelled, "Icebeam!"

A green aura extended from the Gloom, but it never made it to Ceto, who unleashed a powerful beam of warmth-sapping energy with an icicle at its tip. The beam tore into the Gloom, impaling it with the two-foot ice spike and knocking it out instantly. Ceto's next opponent was a Diglet who immediately dug into the ground. "Ceto, ready a water pulse and release it when the Diglet surfaces," I ordered calmly.

The trainer recalled his pokemon after hearing my orders, choosing not to let the Diglet fall pretty to Ceto, and winning me the match. I recalled Ceto after praising her, and headed back to the stands since she sustained absolutely no injury.

"Huh, I guess you might have some skill after all," Keith mocked from behind me. I ignored him and waited for the next round to begin. It went similarly to the first round, with Keith only using his Lucario and progressing, Chris only using Shiro and progressing, and me only using Ceto and progressing, easily beating out a Flareon and another Gloom.

In the semifinals, Chris was paired with Keith and I was paired with a trainer by the name of Ben. Since both matches took place at the same time, I did not have the opportunity to observe Chris's match in its entirety. I did, however, beat my opponent relatively quickly and was able to watch the end of Chris's match. Ben led with a Luxio while I continued to lead with Ceto. Immediately, I was seized with a vision of the large Luxray, hungrily stalking me, and I felt a wave of intense fear before I shuddered and put the thought out of my mind.

Ben called out his command as I yelled, "Hydro Pump!" and the Luxio let out a blast of static that traveled towards Ceto rapidly while she brought some of her super-condensed, stored water in front of her. She then released it as a compressed surge of water which grew fourfold in volume when the force holding the water in its condensed form disappeared. The ultra-strong jet of water passed through the static wave and impacted the Luxio with a sickening crack as the force of the blast broke several of its ribs and caused it to collapse.

The static wave managed to continue on and hit Ceto, causing her to convulse as she attempted to move, but I kept her out. Ben switched out his Luxio for a Graveler, which immediately started rolling towards her. The paralysis rendered Ceto unable to move or attack, and it allowed the Graveler to barrel into her and send her flying. I was slightly worried - though I knew she took heavier hits from Azrael on a daily basis, I still did not want her taking those hits for long. Luckily, she did not have to. Ceto rose from the ground with an angry glint in her eyes, and called forth water from the nearby river, above which stood Nugget Bridge. The water surged onto land and swirled around Ceto, engulfing her in water for a second before she sent it as a wave rushing towards the rolling Graveler.

The water impacted the Graveler, disrupting its rollout and sweeping it away, but before it could be carried too far, Ben recalled it and forfeited. At that moment, I looked over to Chris's match and saw Pierce knocking out a nasty looking Crobat. I took my seat and watched as Keith sent out his Lucario. From the look of the match, Chris was either winning or he was tied up with Keith.

I was nervous about the match; Lucario are part fighting-type, which are strong against dark-types. The Lucario was fast, hitting Pierce quickly despite his attempts to warp reality against the fighter type. Since fighting pokemon focus too intensely on their opponents, it is incredibly difficult to affect them with the warped reality that is dark-type; their focus is not affected by changes in the perceptible reality.

Pierce continued to take hit after hit, trying to push the Lucario back with dark pulses, but the Lucario swept his feet out from under him and proceeded to slam its palm into him repeatedly until Pierce could not fight back, forcing Chris to recall him. Instead of sending out Shiro, Chris hung his head as Keith was proclaimed the winner.

I sighed and rubbed my temples before heading over to the medical machine. Chris would not have the opportunity to battle me, and I was worried about what that would mean to his psyche. Keith walked over to the machine as I waited for Ceto to heal and checked in both of his pokemon. Then he looked to me and said, "You know, I'm inclined to believe that you are a Nugget champ now. Your friend was pretty strong and if he admitted to losing to you, then perhaps you were telling the truth. I guess we'll soon know for sure. Good luck, so-called champ."

I scoffed once again, choosing not to engage with his competitive antics; I knew very well what could happen if I flung too much shit and I did not need another Alex in my life. When Ceto was returned to me, I made my way to the stands in an attempt to find Chris during the hour before the finals match, but found no trace of him, so I thought of strategy instead of worrying about him.

Luckily for me, Keith had no idea who my other pokemon was, meaning that he would probably expect me to lead with my unknown battler. If that was the case, he would lead with the pokemon who was least suited for dealing with Ceto. If I were in his place, I would send that Lucario to take on Ceto since putting his pokemon at a distance rendered them susceptible to her powerful ranged attacks, leaving the Crobat. Knowing that, I decided on a plan of action for Azrael which would be most effective against fast flying/poison-types.

When the time came, I made my way out to the field while the announcer gave us an entrance. Keith Mulback was the Nugget Bridge champion at the two-badge, February 6th tournament and currently holds a gym record of 4-0. I heard the information and felt excited and confident about myself since I had beaten the tournament two months before him. I then heard my name and tuned back in to the announcer's voice. –MacAfee was also a Nugget Bridge champion at the two-badge, December 27th tournament and currently holds a gym record of 4-0. This will be an interesting match, folks.

Keith stood facing me with a smirk, and when the referee gave the signal, we both released our pokemon. I smiled as he released his Crobat, which hovered above the ground on its four flitting wings. Keith's smirk changed to a look of distress as I released Azrael, who had reached a height of fourteen feet and entered with a high-pitched roar that shook the ground.

I immediately yelled, "Doze-Storm! Follow with a stream of rock slides. Don't let up!" I didn't hear what my opponent yelled, but the Crobat took to the sky and his form multiplied while Azrael shrouded himself in a dirt-filled sandstorm. The improved sandstorm covered half of the field, forcing some league psychics to erect barriers between the stands and the battleground.

Soon after, a rock shard the size of a coffee table hurtled from the storm and struck one of the four images of Crobat, causing it to blink out of existence. The rest started flying around erratically and sending star shaped rays into the storm. Soon, Azrael's high-pitched whine was heard as I realized the identity of the attack: Swift. It homed into a target and was famed for never missing.

If Azrael could not hit the bat while they flew around so quickly, it would just whittle him down and eventually win. "Azrael, use smaller rocks and shoot them at multiple visages." He responded by sending five basketball-sized rocks flying at the Crobat, only one of which landed a hit. Unfortunately, the struck pokemon was only an image and faded from existence.

The Crobat used double team again and added three more images to the fight; there were now six. "Keep it up!" Even as I yelled, Azrael continued to launch packs of rocks at the bats, succeeding in one or two hits each time, but they were always against an image instead of the real Crobat. During that time, the Crobat unleashed a brutal barrage of swifts, which continued to hurt Azrael. On the fifth rock slide, Azrael finally managed to strike the real Crobat, who screeched and sent a confusing ray into the storm. Then he fired another swift. I heard Azrael screech from within the storm, followed by a quick repetitive slamming noise.

My heart was sinking as I looked at Azrael's pokeball and found his health falling from 65% to 50%. "C'mon, Azrael! Snap out of it and hit him with another rock slide. He shouldn't be able to survive many! You can do it!" The Crobat's continued renewal of double team kept it adequately safe, but I knew it couldn't take many more hits with the rocks. The Zubat line is not very durable and Azrael's attacks were devastating.

Another pack of rocks streamed out of the storm and collided with two visages, leaving three. Two more swifts flew down, creating small flashes of light from within the brown storm as they hit. Azrael's roar split the field as the dull flashes of light became static. Less than a second later, the storm exploded out, encompassing the entire field and rising higher into the air. The ground shook violently, throwing me to my back. I could hear screams from the stands and the groaning of metal as the bleachers shook as well.

The high-pitch roaring that came from within the storm lowered in pitch until it sounded like boulders grinding together while a metal table was being dragged over a stone floor. I looked up to see the Crobat flying higher to stay a few feet above the storm, and I tried to rise to my feet.

The quaking stopped, and I was able to stand up. Shortly after, however, a loud whumph sounded and the ground shook again for a second, jarring me where I stood, before I saw Azrael's form surging out of the top of the storm at breakneck speed. His body was streamlined and athletic, his arms had fully developed webbing that were flared open and flapping strongly, white spikes ran down his legs and arms, and a patch of golden scales in a star pattern adorned his snout. Trainer MacAfee's Gible evolved!

Goosebumps ran down my entire body as I saw my newly evolved Garchomp fly through an image of the Crobat before colliding with the real Crobat, its five-foot-tall body nearly disappearing into Azrael's jagged maw as he bit down hard. I heard the Crobat cry out in pain and Keith yell out in concern for his pokemon. I could not see Keith through the dense storm, so I watched the aerial battle to see the Crobat disappear. Keith has forfeited his Crobat.

Now that Azrael had no target in sight, he looked around from where he was and I saw him struggle to stop and hover, but fail and start falling. Before I lost him in the storm, however, I aimed my Greatball at him and managed to recall him before he could be hurt by hitting the ground.

I noticed that, even though I recalled Azrael, his storm continued to rage. My next move was difficult to choose. Ceto would not be able to see in the storm, though neither would the Lucario. Furthermore, Lucario might actually be able beat Ceto if he could avoid her attacks in the storm, which would lead me to use Azrael anyway. However, I wanted to interact with Azrael in a non-threatening situation before I gave him directions in battle.

The referee then called out to both me and Keith. "If you want to wait for the storm to subside, raise your hand. If not, release your next pokemon." Neither of us released our pokemon, so we waited thirty seconds for the storm to subside. When it did, I noted the swirled-pattern of the field ground. I released Ceto as Keith released his Lucario, a blue bipedal, jackal-looking pokemon with naturally occurring metal growing from its bones.

"Scald!" I yelled. Lucario bounced on the balls of its feet and slammed its fists together before Ceto sprayed scalding hot water across the field, covering much of the Lucario's side with burns. "Great! Smokescreen and agility, then twister!" I ordered.

As Ceto poured smoke onto the field, the Lucario charged her, tackling her and pushing her back. She then started moving faster, making short-distance leaps in quick succession at increasingly high speed. The Lucario made a move for her again, but the combination of smoke and Ceto's quickened reflexes allowed her to move out of the way and summon a small twister which sent the Lucario spiraling away, slamming against the ground repeatedly, along with most of the smoke she had just poured onto the field.

I face-palmed as I realized my mistake, but I issued new orders nonetheless. "Hydro pump, then con-water pulse! Keep it away from you. When it's far enough away, use water gun!" Since hydro pump required more focus to use and I wanted her to be ready to counter his advances at a moment's notice, water gun was the best available option.

As the Lucario jumped to its feet and started running towards Ceto, Ceto formed a highly concentrated horizontal column of water which sped towards it. The Lucario was quick and managed to dodge the majority of the attack, but as he juked to the side, part of the column of water hit his shoulder and caused him to twist back with the force of the attack. I also heard a pop and his shoulder hung limply at his side.

It continued to run towards Ceto, however, manually pulling its shoulder back into place with its usable arm with another audible pop, but Ceto followed up the attack with a concentrated water pulse. The force of the water pushed it back ten feet and left it dripping-wet. It was followed shortly after by a pressurized jet of water which struck the Lucario in the center of its mass.

The Lucario deftly managed to stay on its feet and jabbed its palm forward, resulting in a wave of force that manifested directly in front of Ceto and impacted her chest, and resumed its charge while Ceto regained her focus. Due to the fact that Ceto spent less time gathering manipulating the water, she sent another pulse of water at the Lucario, though it was significantly weaker. The pulse forced it back a couple of feet and it looked around in confusion before staring at the ground blankly.

"Great! The attack confused him! Finish him off with a hydro pump!" I yelled excitedly. Ceto spent a few more seconds gathering the water at her mouth before sending it screaming at the dazed Lucario. The Lucario did not even attempt to dodge as the water flew towards its chest and hit… air. Keith returned his pokemon and the referee blew a whistle, signaling the end of the match.

I blinked and cried out in triumph, along with Ceto. I praised her and allowed her to float back to me, choosing to keep her out of her pokeball. The people in the stands were giving me an enthusiastic ovation while Keith dejectedly headed to the medical station.

We have our winner! This is his second win at Nugget Bridge in a row, folks! I was approached by an older man with a dark brown beard and given a gold nugget, roughly the same size as the first I had received, and a small white box. Inside was a palm-sized stone adorned with lines running in two different directions like the veins of a leaf. I recognized it as a leaf stone, and I knew that they have strong influence over grass-types.

My picture was taken, shaking hands with the man who was introduced as the current director of the Nugget Bridge games, and I noticed a reporter waiting to the side. The director, named Mr. John Lewis, looked at me after my picture was taken and said, "Kid, you're not bad. Not bad at all. Have you thought at all about the Junior Indigo Conference?"

I simply shook my head. He laughed and said, "Well, just like the Indigo Conference, you need to be invited. However, unlike the Indigo Conference, trainers with up to seven badges are allowed to participate. The top four receive special prizes, honors, and consideration for the Indigo Conference, as well as a remarkably higher amount of public recognition." He paused to read my expression and allow me to reply.

Since I knew about the Junior Indigo Conference, or JIC, already, I simply said, "I haven't put a lot of thought into it recently since I wasn't sure how they chose their contestants."

"Well, after that monster of a Gabite of yours evolved," he continued, "I submitted a recommendation on your behalf to the JIC committee. They've already responded, and apparently I'm not the only one to have recommended you so far. Consider this an official invitation to the JIC! Congratulations, son!" He handed over a small piece of parchment with the official seal of the League – a golden pokeball with feathered wings. "I had it teleported in," he said with a wink.

The audience erupted into a new ovation as I thanked Mr. Lewis and accepted the invitation. He shook my hand once more and the reporter approached us. "Mr. MacAfee! Congratulations on your victory and your invitation to the Junior Indigo Conference!" The footage from his cameraman was being projected to a screen on the far side of the tourney grounds and his voice had taken the place of the announcer's.

I thanked him and he asked, "How does it feel to win your second straight tournament here at the Nugget Bridge?"

"It feels exhilarating, as always," I replied confidently.

"Great! How do you feel about your Gabite evolving?"

"I am exceedingly proud. I'm just as proud of Ceto, though," I replied, resting a hand on Ceto's scaly back. She gave a squeak of joy in return.

"No doubt about it! That was certainly an exciting spectacle! How do you feel about the JIC, now that you've been invited?"

"I'm excited. There's no better place to test our skills against those at our badge level."

"What are your plans for after you leave the bridge?" he asked.

"I plan to train for Saffron City. I'll be challenging the gym by the end of the month, for sure," I responded.

"Well I'm sure you will have the best of luck there!" he said cheerfully. "Do you have anything you want to say to your future opponents at the JIC?"

"Not really… I guess just look out; we're coming for the gold," I said, struggling to find something to say that was not too pretentious, but also not too weak. The result sounded corny and unoriginal; so much that I blushed and the reporter laughed.

"Well good luck! We look forward to seeing your performance!" the reporter concluded.

The reporter shook my hand and headed away. I looked around for Chris, but did not find him, so I headed towards the field exit with Ceto beside me. While walking, I unfolded the invitation and read,

Congratulations Mr. MacAfee! It is the privilege of the Indigo League to invite you to participate in the Junior Indigo League Conference. It is to be held on June 11, and all of your accommodations will be covered by the Indigo League. You will find any and all information pertaining to the tournament on the League's website, which can be accessed through your PokeDex. Congratulations, again, and we look forward to seeing you soon!

I immediately messaged my parents and Sheila about my invitation to the JIC, my win at the Nugget Bridge, and Azrael's evolution before continuing out of the tournament grounds. There, I found a small crowd of people waiting for me and who let out a cheer as I emerged.

I grew red and thanked the general crowd, and then I tried to move through it. A cacophony of "good job," "way to go," and "awesome job," rang out around me as I tried to escape. When I finally broke free, I picked up my pace, but I ran into Keith before I made it much further.

"Good job out there, champ," he said, this time without his mocking tone. "If you're not too busy tonight, I'd like to buy you a beer. How 'bout it?"

I was slightly shocked. Not many trainers were that friendly after being beaten, so I cautiously said, "Perhaps. Why do you want to?"

He shrugged and said, "I don't know. I don't lose too often and I'd like to know what kind of person it takes to beat me."

My mind wandered to Chris and I dreaded our situation, so a free drink did not sound so bad. "Alright."

"Cool. Oliver's Pub, 9:30," he replied before walking off with the three girls he was sitting with in the stands. One of them looked back to me and gave me a smile, which made me grow red once again.

I hurried towards the city limit and released Dante while returning Ceto once I crossed the invisible line. "Hey, Dante, could you teleport us back to our training camp?"

We are going back?

I nodded. "Mhm. Azrael has evolved and I want us to celebrate that fact alone and as a team. Plus, he may be on a post-evolutionary rampage and I don't want anyone getting hurt."

Dante's eyes grew in surprise and he nodded before he reached a hand out to me and the scenery changed. We appeared on Route 9 and then the scenery changed again to that of our small training camp. Dante was breathing heavily so I patted him on the head and thanked him. Then I released all of my friends except Azrael.

"Everyone, give it up for Ceto! She alone beat the majority of our opponents at the tourney!" All of the pokemon gave a show of jubilee and Ceto squirmed happily at their praise. "Now, the reason we are all out here right now is that something special has happened. Azrael has completed his final evolution, and he might be a little rampageous at the moment. So everyone give him some space, but give him the respect he's earned."

At that, I walked toward the clearing and released Azrael. His form materialized, standing sixteen feet tall and his black scales reflecting the sunlight. Now that I finally had a chance to see him relatively close, I noticed that the webbing to his wings was narrow and folded in to his arms. His large claws at the ends of his arms had a smaller claw underneath each that looked to be able move somewhat like a thumb, but not quite as dexterous, and the gap in his dorsal fin had almost filled in, still remaining a memento of his encounter with Tsunami.

When he finished materializing, Azrael let out an enormous roar that sent every bird in a half-mile radius taking to the sky in fright. He then sent a stream of fire towards the sky and lashed out at the nearest tree – one whose trunk was two feet thick – and cut clean through it with his sharp claw. Then he sent a massive wave of dirt, nearly twenty feet high, surging at the tree line on the other side of the meadow, knocking over quite a few trees and leaving a crater from where the dirt came. The air was full of the sounds of trees hitting the ground and I simply watched in awe.

Azrael then stomped hard, creating a massive earthquake that knocked me and Rufus to the ground. After that, Azrael slumped to the ground on all fours, breathing heavily, and released another stream of fire into the ground. When he did not move for a minute, I approached him. As soon as I took a step, his head twitched and he looked at me fiercely.

"Hey there, Azrael," I said confidently, peering up at him with pride. "How are you feeling?" He let out a loud roar that sent shivers running down my spine. It was a sound that no one in their right mind would want to go near. "I can't even express how proud I am of you. Look at you! You flew! And now you can create earthquakes! I'm speechless, Azrael."

Azrael moved towards me and brought his face down to mine. My head and upper torso could easily fit in his mouth but I was too proud to be fearful. A low rumble came from his chest which sounded like boulders rubbing together, and I reached up to his star pattern. I was looking at the spitting image of Kira, though only 2/3 her size.

Azrael's scales were slick and shiny, yet hard. "Geez, how much are you going to need to eat?" I asked humorously and Azrael shook with delight. "But now you can attack from the sky! We're going to have to work on your flying skills."

Azrael excitedly stretched out his arms and flared his wings. The rest of my pokemon gathered around him and gave shows of respect, such as bowing. Azrael looked proudly at us all and then raised his head to the sky. He extended his wings and tensed his legs. I backed up as small rocks began to levitate underneath him, and then he launched himself up into the air, bringing some of the earth with him.

I hypothesized then that Garchomp use their mastery over the earth to compensate for their narrow wings, much like Ceto uses her mastery over water to levitate. Azrael flew forward for a few hundred feet and then attempted to turn. He immediately fell several tens of feet before he changed his body into a dive to save his fall. Luckily, he was able to level out before crashing horizontally and sliding along the grass.

I gave a muffled chuckle and pulled out my PokeDex. I read that Garchomp were extremely fast flyers, but they were not very maneuverable. We would have to spend a lot of time working on his aerodynamics before I would even think of attempting to ride him. Until then, I was happy to develop his abilities to match his new strength.

When Azrael came back to us, I made another announcement. "So, everyone. Ceto already knows, but I wanted to tell you all as a team: because of our performance at the Nugget Bridge, and because apparently we have caught the eyes of important people, we have been invited to the Indigo Conference for trainers with less than eight badges! Only the best are chosen, so we will have the opportunity face the toughest trainers at our level. I can't wait to stomp them!"

The vicinity was filled with roars and cackles of excitement. I hugged Azrael's large, armor-plated chest, and then I brought Rufus into a tight hug. Then I carefully hugged Ceto before reaching out to Gilles, who put a corporeal hand in mine, and then I put a hand on Dante's shoulder. In those moments, while my team and I celebrated together, I was happier than I could ever remember up until that point in my life.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"Hey, Chris. How's it going?" I asked when I found Chris in the Pokemon Center lobby around 6:30 that night.

He looked up to me with a blank face and said, "Could be worse, I guess. I suppose you beat Keith?"

I nodded and said, "To be honest, I'm really surprised he managed to beat you. He was a tough battler but you were better."

"He had type advantage over both of my pokemon," Chris said, curtly.

"Then I think you need to work with your pokemon on countering their natural weaknesses," I said in thought. When Chris did not answer, I continued. "You really should have stayed. Azrael evolved."

"He did!?" exclaimed Chris.

"Yeah. It was pretty exciting."

"Well, I'll see him soon enough," he sighed.

"I also received this," I said, handing him the league invitation.

"You got invited to the JIC?" Chris asked hollowly. "No surprise, really. I wish I could participate." He sighed and handed back the league-sealed parchment.

"Well I guess we should head out tomorrow," I said. "What are you doing tonight?"

"I thought I'd go get a drink," he said simply.

"Cool. I'm going to Oliver's Pub at nine. Want to join?" I invited.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, heads up: Keith will be there. He actually offered to buy me a drink there."

"Oh. Okay, then." At that, our conversation abruptly ended, so I went to take a shower.

It was nice having the company of Ceto and Rufus in the Pokemon Center while I waited to leave. While I waited, I received a reply message from Sheila, as well as a message from Champion Bruce Volker. Sheila's read:

By the Legendaries! I'm so happy for him! Send him my best. And congratulations for your invitation! My dad hinted at something like that for me, and considering he's a gym leader, his influence is rather impressive (not to brag). Too bad the invitation he could get me would be for the Hoenn Conference, though we won't have to worry about fighting each other. Anyway, congratulations for everything!

I smiled and opened the Champion's message next.

Word travels fast about your newly evolved Garchomp. I heard through the JIC committee that you were extended an invitation, and that your Gabite evolved. Congratulations. I would very much like to examine your Garchomp at your earliest convenience before the Conference. I might be able to find some clues to his paternal lineage. Let me know when you are available. –IC Volker

I responded to Bruce Volker first, telling him, "Thank you for your felicitations and for your efforts in ascertaining Azrael's heritage. I will be leaving tomorrow from Cerulean and heading towards Saffron off-route. I can meet before then, if you are available."

I received a reply not long after. It simply stated "Tomorrow will be fine. Meet me two miles southeast of the Route 5 Rangers' station at noon. I want to avoid the hassle of people in the city and of trainers in the grinder if at all possible."

I looked at Rufus and Ceto and said, "We have an appointment with the Champion himself tomorrow! Ceto, you might get to see your father."

Ceto looked at me hopefully and Rufus huffed. I smiled and returned them before checking Ceto and Azrael in to the Center and finding Chris. With directions from Nurse Joy, we proceeded to Oliver's Pub to meet with Keith.

It took us about thirty minutes to arrive, making us twenty minutes early. I did not see Keith anywhere, so Chris and I ordered a beer and waited. Ten minutes later, Keith arrived and lifted an eyebrow when he saw Chris, though he did not seem to mind.

"So, I see you've already begun. What can I get you?" Keith asked. I mentioned a beer and he immediately ordered one from the waitress. "So what's your story? How did you manage to come across a dragon already?"

"I'm from Viridian and Azrael is my starter, but how I obtained him is a bit more personal," I replied.

"Fair enough," he said. "That was also a fairly strong Seadra. What other pokemon do you have?"

"Challenge me and find out," I replied, both seriously and humorously.

"Maybe another day," he said, waving off my goad. "I'm from Fuchsia City. My mother's a gym trainer there, actually."

"You're mother works in a Gym?" both Chris and I asked.

"Yeah, she's a pretty strong battler, and tests all potential gym challengers before Leader Fulton, but it's not a big deal. I've earned every victory under my belt," he said defiantly.

"Don't worry, we get it," I said, speaking for Chris. "We know someone like that." Chris nodded in agreement and the waitress brought us our beer.

"Well maybe I'll get to see your team at the JIC this year," he continued. "I received my invitation from my mother after I beat Buell."

"We'll see," I replied. Chris was now drinking his fourth beer and really did not seem to enjoy the conversation. Before long, Keith and I had devolved into light conversation, and after an hour, Keith finally stood up, gave me his number, and bid us farewell. Chris was sufficiently inebriated by that point so I had to drag him back to the PokeCenter.

I woke up at 8:30 the next morning and knocked on Chris's door. He groggily pulled it open and asked me what I wanted. "I'm meeting with the Champion in a couple hours. Do you want to join?"

Chris blinked several times and asked, "Like the Champion?" When I nodded, he thought for a minute before shaking his head. "I don't feel very good right now. I'm going to go back to bed and not make a fool of myself in front of the most powerful person in Kanto."

I nodded again and left, eating a quick breakfast before I headed into the city. I had just enough time to visit the BioTech Pokemon trainers department before my appointment with Champion Volker. There, I visited the rare items section and asked to speak to a manager.

A woman in a gray business suit met with me and I was able to make a bargain with her after half an hour of heated negotiating. I traded my leaf stone and 1,000Pb for a dawn stone, with which I could evolve Dante. There was now only one more essential condition for his evolution, and it would be difficult to meet mostly because I would could not effect it.

I reached the Rangers' lodge by 11:00 and released Dante. After I asked him to teleport me two miles to the southeast, I said, "But before you do, I have a gift for you." I held out the dazzling dawn stone, which shone with a brilliant yellow light.

What… is that? Dante responded, his eyes widening. I can feel it calling to me.

"This is a dawn stone. It will provide the necessary energy to catalyze your evolutionary process when your body is ready for it. You will need to hold on to it until then," I told him.

Dante took the stone in his hands with an almost ceremonial reverence. I can feel it resonating in my veins.

"Well let's hope that you won't have to hold it for long, if it's bothering you," I said, concerned.

It is not unpleasant… But it is not comfortable either. He looked up to me with thankful eyes and touched my hand. The Rangers' station disappeared and was replaced by a patch of trees. Our arrival startled a couple Pachirisu that were foraging nearby and I chuckled as they scurried away with cries of distress.

I released all of my pokemon and I told Azrael to fly up and find a clearing so that we would be easier for Bruce Volker to find. He roared in approval and took off. A short time later, I heard a distant crash, and shortly after that, Azrael flew down, crashing into a nearby tree like a boulder flying off a ramp. He quickly rose to his feet and jerked his head back in the direction from which he had flown.

We walked into the clearing and started a training session while we waited. Azrael's sole task was to work on his maneuverability in the air, Rufus continued to work on his shadow melding skills, Gilles and Dante worked on their thunderbolts, and Ceto worked on her twisters.

Not long after noon, Azrael came crashing into the clearing, and then we all heard the sound of wings flapping, and watched as Bruce Volker descended on a magnificent golden dragon. It landed in a run on all fours and slowed down to a stop before us. Then Volker unlatched himself from the leather saddle and hopped down, landing deftly on the soft grass. The Dragonite, Glemdrin, was Volker's starter and a gift from his clan, as was customary when a clan member with considerable potential was produced. Glemdrin was massive and the weight of his presence set the hairs on my back standing on end.

Glemdrin was the first Dragonite I had ever seen in person, and I recalled the chubby plush dolls that were sold in mass, noting how little they actually had in common with the dragon. Glemdrin's body was muscular and athletic, his head was held fifteen feet off the ground, and he had a wingspan that matched his height. Glemdrin's golden scales glinted in the sunlight, the ten-inch horn on his head lay above two flexible antennae, and long his tail was held strongly behind him.

"Hello there!" Volker said, giving a wave, and I waved back. His Dragonite followed him closely until he stopped five feet from me, Azrael standing behind me protectively. "Thank you for meeting me out here. It's always a pain to meet with people in crowded areas; too many stares and requests for attention."

"It is no problem at all, Champion Volker," I responded politely.

"So this is Azrael, then," he said looking up over my shoulder at my dragon. Glemdrin gazed upon him intensely, as well. "Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Looks just like his mother, though she was a bit bigger, I think. Glemdrin, isn't the similarity astounding? It seems like yesterday that we were challenging Lorelei and Kira." Glemdrin huffed with a masculinity matched by none.

Azrael rumbled in reply and Bruce looked at him, laughing. "Don't worry, your size is no indication of your abilities." Then he looked back to me and said, "I've been doing some research into your Garchomp's lineage, starting with looking into Lorelei's past behavior. That was no help, so I enlisted aid from my clan back in Blackthorn. You see, my clan has produced several dragon trainer champions over the past couple centuries in multiple regions, so they have many resources at their disposal to identify dragons. At the moment, I have a few possibilities in mind, but I'll need to use a more effective method than speculation to be sure."

Volker pulled out a small metal device and used it to scan Azrael. After he was finished, he said, "Well, thank you for your time. I apologize that this was my only reason for meeting with you, but this was all I needed. I will get back to you if I learn more."

"Please, Champion Volker, I was actually hoping that you could introduce us to your Kingdra," I said quickly before he could mount Glemdrin.

He gave me a look of confusion and I continued, "I obtained Ceto here from Leader Holmes. She's Tullius's daughter."

Champion Volker's eyes widened slightly and he nodded, saying, "Alright, for a few moments. I have many things to tend to." At that, the Champion retrieved a Greatball and unleashed his six-foot-tall, deep blue Kingdra. The kingly dragon floated a foot above the ground with a regal posture, and the Champion bowed to him after he appeared. One large fin on his back twitched and he returned Volker's gesture before he looked down at me with an oppressively scrutinizing gaze, forcing me to lower my eyes.

Tullius then returned his gaze to Volker, who motioned to Ceto. "That's one of your little ones, Tullius. Her name is now Ceto." Tullius looked over to her with curiosity in his eyes, causing Ceto to squeak happily and tentatively float closer. Tullius looked Ceto over and blew some bubbles down on her, which she gleefully returned. Volker smiled and called out, "Alright, Tullius, it's time to leave. Perhaps you'll see her in battle one day!"

Tullius huffed and nodded towards Ceto, and was then returned. Volker looked at me and said, "I'll keep in touch about Azrael's father. Good luck on your journey to Saffron."

I thanked him and he mounted his magnificent Dragonite, who took off into the sky with a single flap of his draconic wings. Ceto watched Volker disappear into the sky longingly, but respectfully, before turning to me and letting out a squeak. I patted her on the head and looked back to Dante. "I guess it's time to go back and retrieve Chris. Hopefully he's feeling better. I feel like it's going to be fairly awkward as it is."

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Chris and I silently stood at the edge of a large clearing, in which our pokemon teams stood two hundred feet apart. A week and a half had passed since we left Cerulean, during which our interactions had grown progressively more limited. We trained our pokemon against each other, but outside of those sessions, we rarely talked, choosing the company of our pokemon teams over that of each other since, from my perspective, Chris seemed angry whenever I tried to strike up a conversation.

I imagined that it had something to do with my recent successes and his recent failures, but there was nothing I could do about that short of allowing him to beat my pokemon, which was unthinkable. The result from my point of view was that Chris was growing resentful, and the most I could do was help him prepare for his next challenge.

Chris and I looked onto the field and shouted, "GO!" Our pokemon burst into action immediately. Holding a baton, Azrael kicked up a wave of dirt and disappeared as it whipped around him and became part of his sandstorm. Azrael sacrificed the size of his sandstorm for intensity, allowing the winds to reach high speeds. He then continued kicking up more dirt to make the vortex denser and denser – a skill we had been working on for the past week. Pierce gripped the other baton and stayed back behind his compatriots, who advanced quickly.

Dante threw up a light screen around himself and his other teammates to protect against energy attacks, and then threw up a reflect, which he focused on condensing. Recently, we had been working on that particular use for both moves. Normally, the barriers would remain in effect without the active focus of the pokemon and block some of the harmful energy or concussive force passing through them for a certain amount of time, but a pokemon can focus on allotting most of their energy to fueling the invisible shield. This allows the pokemon to condense the barrier into a more resistant version for the duration of its concentration. Condensing the barriers is very effective, but not failsafe. Only one other technique is more effective, but it requires much more energy to use.

Dante concentrated on maintaining a barrier against concussive force, rendering him incapable of performing any other actions but keeping him and his teammates relatively safe. Rufus started howling to get his blood pumping faster and Ceto poured smoke into the air around them, obscuring them from view. Lastly, Gilles sent a ghostly ray of negative energy at Chris's team in the hopes of confusing them.

Pierce honed his claws as Shiro split into three images of himself. Kratos began spraying sand and dirt at my team and Rey's eyes glowed blue as he called upon his psychic powers. However, Rey was interrupted by Gilles' confuse ray and used his psychic energy to pick up Pierce instead of his target. Pierce was surprised by the attack, could not respond in time, and was slammed into the ground.

Pierce rushed forward and punched Rey, managing to snap him out of his confusion before backpedaling and dodging a pressurized jet of water. He continued to backpedal until the ground exploded ten feet to his side. Pierce flickered and disappeared, reappearing in Azrael's claws. Azrael, who had burrowed shortly after making the sandstorm, had detected Pierce's true location through his footsteps, and stripped Pierce of the baton before throwing him to the side. Then he burrowed back underground, and less than ten seconds later, the sandstorm faded, leaving Azrael standing with both batons.

Just like that, the game was over. Both Chris and I were paralyzed with shock, as well as the majority of the pokemon in the clearing. Suddenly, the shocked silence was broken by an uproarious yowl. "WHHAAA!? Are you kidding me!?" Chris exclaimed. "This is bullshit!"

"Whoa, calm down Chris," I said warily.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" he yelled.

"Chris, they were just playing the game. Yeah it was a little underhanded, but they were still operating within the rules," I said, trying to reason with him.

"A little underhanded!? That wasn't even…. You know what? Screw this!" he cried, and then he stomped off into the woods, calling his pokemon to his side. I stared at his back, which disappeared into the woods shortly thereafter.

I looked over at Azrael and said, "I think he just needs to cool down. Great job though; it was really smart."

Azrael snorted and stomped off of the field, followed by the rest of the team, and they gathered around me. We chose to wait until Chris returned, which did not occur until the sun had set. He entered the campsite wearing a solemn expression.

"Chris, I get that the match was a little cheap, but-" I started, but Chris cut me off.

"I don't think I can do this anymore," he said, bluntly.

"What, the game? I guess we don't have to do it anymore, but I know our pokemon really like it," I replied.

"No. I don't think I can travel with you anymore," Chris said with conviction.

"Why…?" I said, exceedingly confused.

"Because as long as I follow you, I will remain in your shadow," he explained solemnly. "I cannot continue to command the respect of my pokemon or to call myself a good trainer if I hold no hope of overcoming any obstacle. And at the moment, I don't have faith in my ability to surpass you. I got into training because I wanted to be the best, but I'm falling short consistently. I need to find my own way to reach the top because your way is just that: your way. It won't work for me."

"…Are you sure? We've already been through so much. And it's dangerous off the route," I said, trying to convince him otherwise.

"We've learned to read the markings of predators and our pokemon are strong enough to protect us," Chris replied. "And I'm positive. I've talked to my pokemon and they agree that we need to find our own way. At least for a while."

I sighed. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"…Well I'm sorry it hasn't worked out for you," I said, feeling disappointed.

"Yeah, me too," he replied. Then he and his pokemon crawled into his tent.

I spoke with my pokemon, and they accepted the situation. Azrael and Rufus seemed happier than the rest, choosing not to express any sadness while Ceto, Gilles, and Dante hung their heads glumly. We went to bed eventually, and woke up in the morning to the sound of Chris packing up.

I emerged from my tent to see Chris folding his tent, so I helped him pack, though he did not accept most of my aid. When he finally stood facing me with his possessions strung to his back, his pokemon scattered out around him and he said, "I'm sorry it had to turn out this way. Thank you for everything you've taught me. I know that I might not have learned half the stuff I did without your help."

I nodded and replied, "If you ever need anything, you have my Dex number; I'm sure Dante's teleporting skills will soon be strong enough for me to reach you quickly."

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind," he said, genuinely.

"So where are you heading now?" I asked.

"Not sure. Depending on what my team wants to do, I might head back to the route, or I might Combeeline it straight to Saffron," he said uncertainly.

"I see. Well, good luck and stay safe, Chris. We both know what kind of dangers lurk out here," I told him.

"Yeah, haha. That, we do. And the same to you," he said good-naturedly.

"Are you sure you want to go?" I asked once more.

Chris nodded. "I'm sorry for my anger towards you. In reality, I'm more frustrated at myself. But this is the only way I can see out of it. I believe this is what's best for me and my team."

"Then I guess I cannot convince you to stay. Take care, Chris," I said, holding out my hand. Chris smiled and shook it kindly. Azrael proudly stood behind me, Rufus sat at my side, and Gilles was nowhere in sight. Dante hovered in front of Shiro and Ceto hovered in front of Rey. Dante's eyes glowed a faint green and Ceto gave a small bow, which Rey returned.

When Chris let go of my hand, he turned and walked away. His pokemon each followed in turn, though the mood was interrupted by a large scream and a wail of fright. I looked to the source and saw Gilles floating next to Kratos, who had just fallen over after turning around and being startled.

I shook my head and called Gilles over to me. Chris laughed and yelled, "I certainly won't miss that," and disappeared into the forest. Gilles floated over to me with a saddened look on his face, though I believe he only felt sad because he no longer had as many subjects to prank. Now there was only his own team and me. Oh joy.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Loneliness only gripped me for a couple days. I had grown comfortable with human companionship over the months, and I had lost the feeling that had accompanied me at the beginning of my journey. The loneliness I felt soon dissolved to reveal the repressed emotions I had kept locked up. The truth of the matter is that I enjoyed the solitary nature of traveling alone, with only my pokemon to keep me company. It was simple; it was serene; it was liberating.

The conversations at the fireside never ceased; I talked to my pokemon and Dante translated their responses. Our training sessions never eased in intensity or effectiveness. At our week-long training camp, we made much progress, and that productivity was brought to our everyday lives. My pokemons' skills increased quickly through repeated exercise, and we kept safe by expertly navigating the wilderness to avoid potential threats.

After another two weeks, Dante had made much progress with teleportation, nearly doubling his range. Rufus was using his energy more efficiently to meld with the shadows, with Gilles lending him aid whenever necessary. Gilles started learning to diversify the use of his energy ball by drawing energy from the minerals in the earth, from which plants draw energy, instead of exclusively from flora. This would greatly help in areas devoid of lush foliage, such as the JIC arenas.

Azrael became much more adept at maneuvering in the air, being able to change directions without losing control, as well as being able to land without crashing. He also started learning to control his ability to cause earthquakes. Lastly, Ceto made progress using her ability to create scalding water and applying it to her water gun. Eventually, we would work on extending it to her hydro pumps as well.

After those two weeks passed, I was traversing the woods when I looked up and spotted a column of smoke marring the sky. I chose to investigate its source, hoping to find a trainer's camp where I could find a pokemon challenge, since they were so rare off the route.

After an hour, I was able to gain a decent view of the source, and what I saw made me stop in alarm. A crashed airplane lay smoldering amidst some damaged trees. I made a move to approach the wreckage, but I stopped when I saw a group of camouflage-garbed men emerge from the debris, carrying two flailing bodies. I watched as they walked to a group of black ATV's and then sped off into the forest.

I released Gilles and said, "Gilles, I need you to follow those men and find out where they go. Come back when you do. And stay hidden!" He giggled and sped off through the trees.

Twenty minutes later, he appeared in front of me and motioned for me to follow. It took almost an hour for me and my pokemon to find where the men had gone.

From an overlooking hill, I could see a complex lying hidden in the trees, consisting of a large, two-story stone building, a one-story stone building, and a garage laid out in a triangle and bordered by ten feet of deforested void. I stomped twice to signal to Azrael to burrow, which he promptly obeyed. I then told Gilles to become incorporeal and hide, which he obeyed as well. I then slunk closer to the stone complex to gain a better view, but I told Ceto and Dante to remain; I only allowed Rufus to accompany me. I saw several men walking around the perimeter holding rifles, which automatically made me wary considering firearms were illegal.

I looked at Rufus, shook my head, and continued to observe. After about ten minutes, I saw a group of six people emerge from one building and head to another. In the middle of the group was a woman leading a person who was bound and whose head was covered. Three of the people leading whom I believed to be a hostage wore navy blue shirts upon which a giant M was plastered. I nodded to Rufus and snuck back to the group. I stomped twice again to tell Azrael to surface, and he joined us soon after.

"Well, we have a situation. I think we just stumbled upon a Meteor camp," I explained seriously. "The Meteors are terrorists that have already been creating problems with the people of Kanto. They've murdered people and pokemon so I know that they are dangerous. That and the guards are carrying rifles. The situation is complicated because I think they have a hostage or two. If they had no qualms about killing before, then they certainly won't have any now. We have to do something."

Azrael and Ceto nodded crisply, but Dante looked at me questioningly. Why do you care about this person, J'Kun? If these Meteors are as dangerous as you say, then we should avoid confronting them.

"I care because if we do not do something, that person may die. I don't know how far from civilization we are, and that person may not have a lot of time. I know that the Indigo government does not negotiate with terrorists, and unfortunately, we cannot call any league officials here," I explained, annoyed that Dante was questioning my motives.

So we will risk our lives to save someone you do not know because if we don't, that person may die?

"Yes," I replied determinedly. Dante nodded, his expression unreadable. "Alright, then, we need a plan. That is a fairly large set of buildings and we have no idea where they are taking the hostages. Here's my plan…"

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"HELLOOO!" I yelled, stumbling into the clearing. "PLEASE, I NEED HELP!"

I paused as I saw four men running over with their rifles raised at me. I tried to look as confused and scared as possible. My clothes were burnt and torn, courtesy of Rufus, and I had ash smeared on my face and arms. One of the men brought a handheld transceiver to his mouth and spoke into it while the three others surrounded me.

"Please! My plane crashed! I need help!" I pleaded. One of the men walked up behind me, grabbed the back of my neck, and forced me to my knees. "Ah! What's going on? I need help!" I exclaimed as three more men emerged from the entrance of the largest building. They brought rope and bound my wrists before dragging me into the building and through a maze of winding hallways.

I was put in a white room, where I waited for about five minutes between two guards until the door opened and a man who looked to be in his forties walked in. He had a brown goatee, a strong jaw, dark brown eyes, and hair that fell to his shoulders. He sat down in a chair in front of me and asked, "Who are you?"

"I-I'm Christopher Farris," I replied meekly.

"How did you find this place?" he asked.

"I followed tire tracks. I woke up and the plane was wrecked, so I crawled out and found tire tracks," I said, continuing the façade.

"Well you may be in luck. That is if you have people who care about you," he said malevolently. He then looked to the two guards and said, "Put him in with the others."

They picked me up by the arms and led me out of the room. "Wow, kid. You have some impressive muscle tone," one of them remarked. I groaned in response before they opened a door, led me in, and connected my bindings to the wall. Then they left, shutting the door behind them, and I heard the click of a locking mechanism sound, leaving me in a low-lit, bare room next to two other bound people. Luckily, we never walked up stairs, and the room in which I was imprisoned had no video camera, though the door had a closeable window.

I looked over and saw that one of the captives was a boy and the other was a girl. The boy looked to be around thirteen years old and the girl looked to be around my age. "What are your names?" I asked, dropping my act. They both looked at me through tears.

The girl spoke first. "Sharon Gifford." Then the boy spoke. "Frederick Chester."

"Don't worry Sharon and Frederick, I'm getting us out of here," I said confidently. They simply gawked back at me unbelievingly. "Get ready, and please don't scream when my friend comes." I stomped hard on the ground five times and waited. I hoped that there wasn't a basement underneath the room. Regardless, though, he would find a way in. Several minutes passed in silence.

"Is that it?" Sharon said incredulously. "Are you crazy? You really think stomping on the ground will ge-" She was interrupted by the ground in the middle of the stone floor caving in. It was relatively quiet, considering I had ordered Azrael to be as discreet as possible, but the two hostages gasped in surprise.

"SHHH!" I urged. "Don't be afraid!" I warned before Azrael's intimidating draconic face emerged from the hole. I watched as their faces lost their color. "Azrael, watch the door!" I ordered and he turned his body towards the door. Gilles then appeared before me and I said, "Gilles, cut me from the wall."

Gilles flew to my side and extended a sharp claw which easily cut through the ropes. I stepped from the wall and said, "Great job, both of you." I then looked to the two other people bound to the wall and said, "Like I said, I'm getting you out of here. Now please be quiet and my Haunter will release you. Follow what I say without question and we will all be out of here in no time."

Sharon and Frederick nodded happily and Gilles released them from the wall. While he did so, I walked over to the hole in the ground where Azrael's head was sticking out like a Diglet, and he opened his mouth to reveal six small pokeballs, my knife, and my collapsed bow attached to a belt. I pulled on the belt and withdrew my knife before looking back at the two freed captives.

"Alright, now we are going to use the tunnel that Azrael created underneath here to get out," I informed the two kids. Azrael huffed and receded into the tunnel, and I released Dante. "Dante will levitate you both down one at a time, we will run through the tunnel, and then I will take you to the closest form of civilization," I said, grinning.

"Wait!" Sharon interjected. "There were more prisoners. They had me sit in front of a camera with two other people."

I sighed. Of course there are more, I thought bitterly. "Then this just got a lot more complicated. Listen closely. Follow the tunnel all the way out and then look for a tree split down the middle. Right behind it is a hidden burrow that I want you to hide in. Don't come out for anything!" They both nodded and Dante levitated them down into the hole while I contemplated my next move.

"Azrael, collapse the hole and wait for my signal. We will probably be leaving the same way from a different location," I ordered. He nodded and closed the hole, leaving me with Dante and Gilles. "Dante, after we get out of this room, I need you to keep us in a reflective barrier. Hopefully it can stop bullets because our skin won't." I said. "Gilles, peek through the wall and see if there is a guard outside." He obeyed and looked through the wall.

Gilles came back and shook his head. "Alright, we're going to have to wait for a guard. Gilles, I need you to keep watch in the hallway. Stay hidden. Dante, when the guard opens the vent, teleport him inside this room." Dante nodded and I released Ceto. "Ceto, use water gun at the door's seam. Make water leak from under it." She squeaked and drenched the floor, succeeding in her task. Then I returned her and waited.

Ten minutes passed before Gilles reappeared in the room and pointed at the door excitedly. I looked at Dante and whispered, "Showtime!" Rufus crouched nearby and Gilles took his position.

"What the fuck?" a muffled feminine voice said behind the door. Soon after, the vent was opened and the woman's eyes came face to face with Dante's glowing green eyes. Dante' glare was replaced by Gilles shadowy, terrifying face, as she was teleported right in front of him.

The guard fell to the ground, hypnotized, and I quickly grabbed a pistol from her belt, as well as a combat knife and her handheld transceiver. I bound and gagged her quickly, and then I said to Dante, "When she comes to, I need you to extract her memories. I know we haven't practiced it yet, but I need to know where to find the other hostages, how many guards are between us and them, and when we are going to have company."

Dante looked at me with a conflicted expression before nodding slowly. He reached out a hand towards me and I took it, before he turned his head and waited for the female guard to awaken. To expedite the process, Rufus pawed her in the face, jolting her awake. When she opened her eyes, she saw several sets of eyes peering back at her: one ordinary set, one pair fiery, another shadowy, and the last glowing bright green.

The woman shuddered in pain as Dante went to work. Through our connection, he was able to project the images into my mind, showing me everything he extracted. As a result, I received an intimate vision of the woman's actions and her concurrent emotions, making it seem as if I was actually a part of her. Her name was Nicole and she groaned in pain from the process.

Through Nicole's eyes, I saw repetitive patrols down hallways, visits to a storage room, and visits to a break room. I uncomfortably experienced a carnal act between her and the goateed man, whose name was revealed as Prescott. I saw her directing other Meteor members to record ransom videos, and I felt her taking pleasure in every one of her actions.

Then Nicole's memories turned dark. I saw, through her eyes, her beating a captive and dragging him, with the help of other Meteors, to the second building where they recorded the captive's beaten body being executed by a gunshot to the back of his head by none other than Prescott. Prescott's features indicated that he enjoyed the slaughter, and Nicole's emotions revealed to me that she was aroused by it.

I watched her and another guard drag the dead hostage's body to a garbage pit and hurl it in amongst refuse and shattered bones of other bodies. Immediately, animated sludge covered the corpse and began decomposing it while stripping it of flesh. She watched it for five minutes and felt nothing! She turned around and walked through the halls until she walked into an office where Prescott was waiting. "Bring that Christopher to the interrogation room. I need to ask him a few more questions. I may even let you have a little fun with him," he said, cryptically. Then more hallways passed through her vision before she saw water pooling from the base of the prison door…

I recoiled and Dante's process stopped. It had JUST happened! "…You just watched those Grimer eat his body…" I said to her, trembling. She glared up at me in defiance. "How could you?" I asked furiously, yanking the gag from her mouth. "Answer me!" I demanded.

She laughed spitefully and said between giggles, "You reap what you sow. Monsters creating monsters, creating monsters, creating monsters, creating monsters…" she hollowly repeated until I took my knife and struck her with the butt end of it, shutting her up. She looked shocked from the blow, but her facial expression showed a lack of pain. She looked at my pokemon and continued, "You disrupt the balance. You make monsters out of pure creations. Your death will be a boon to this earth, as well as the death of your abominations!"

I struck her again, breaking her nose and sending a small trickle of blood flowing from her nostrils. Gilles cackled at the display of violence and Nicole began to giggle creepily. "What is going on at this facility?" I demanded to know.

"Repentance and Purification. Repentance and Purification. REPENTANCE AND PURIFIC-" This time it was Dante to act up. He sent a bolt of electricity that surged into her body, causing it to convulse spasmodically.

"Dante, stop," I ordered sternly. He obeyed and Nicole began to giggle more. "You're crazy…" I murmured.

She is hollow and does not deserve life. Let me end her, Dante said angrily in my mind.

"I agree, Dante. However, I will not make you a murderer today," I said as I flipped the knife around in my hand and jabbed forward quickly, puncturing the left jugular below her chin. I stood up and watched her fall to the ground, her crazed giggling changing into manic gurgling. I started shaking, both appalled and unremorseful at the same time. I felt no remorse for ending the life of that horrid fiend, but I was appalled for letting myself execute her personally. I put my feelings in the back of my mind and looked at my pokemon.

Rufus was looking at me respectfully, Gilles wore a wide and malicious grin, and Dante looked at me with a blank expression. "We need to find those other people soon," I said, my voice cracking a bit. They all nodded and I looked at Gilles. "See if anyone else is in the hallway."

Gilles cackled and looked through the wall, jerking back in and holding up two claws. "Hey what's that?" their muffled voices said as they undoubtedly saw the water at the base of the door. "Nicole should have brought the new kid to the recording room. Maybe she decided to have a little fun first and made him piss himself," he said, laughing.

I looked at Gilles quickly and quietly said, "Hypnotize them both in the hallway and see if you can open the door!" He nodded and flew through the wall.

"What the – !" I heard before the sound of metal clattering on the stone floor pinged through the door. Then the sound of a lock bolt sliding out of place sounded before the door swung inwards. I spotted the two men on the floor and said, "Dante and Gilles, help me get them inside and bound." Gilles dragged one in while Dante levitated another inside, and I proceeded to bound their arms and legs. Then I gagged them and then retrieved their weapons and walkies.

One of them woke up in the process and squirmed, earning him a shadow punch from Gilles which knocked him out instantly. I left them both there, not wanting to wait for either to wake up and potentially give me a reason to kill them. I looked at Gilles and told him to disappear, and then I returned Rufus and looked at Dante. "Reflect. Keep it up from here on out." He nodded and a barrier flashed in front of my vision before becoming transparent.

I then used my knowledge gained from Nicole's memories to navigate through the corridors. They were empty, for the most part, before we arrived at a long hallway where a guard was patrolling. As soon as we rounded the corner, he froze in surprise. Then he quickly pulled out his handgun while reaching for his transceiver before falling to the ground, hypnotized. I ran over to the door in front of which he was patrolling and slid open the window. Inside were three people tied to the far wall.

I released Rufus and said, "Rufus, watch him and make sure he does not wake up. Gilles, watch the hall and hypnotize any others who come down it," I ordered. I swiped the fallen guard's pistol, knife, and walkie before unlocking the door and walking in. The three people looked up to see a ragged teenager walk in, followed by a Kirlia. "Everyone, I'm getting you out of here," I said, eliciting glances of disbelief.

I stomped five times and started undoing their bindings while asking their names, which were Joseph, Alecia and Kenneth. After I finished releasing Joseph, one of the transceivers awoke. "Nicole, where are you. Report." I froze, not knowing what to do. I looked at the hostages on the wall, my gaze resting on Alecia. "Can you imitate the cruel female Meteor named Nicole?"

She nodded weakly as the transceiver echoed again. "Report!"

"Say, 'In transit. Confirm – recording room?'" I told her, and she repeated the words into the transceiver.

There was a pause before the voice rang out angrily, "What? No. Back to the interrogation room. Prescott is waiting for you!" I knew she was supposed to be taking me to the interrogation room, but I needed an excuse for being late.

"Say, 'Confirmed. My apologies.'"

My eyes narrowed and I finished untying the last two hostages. "Get to the sides of the room and don't be afraid when my friend gets here. He will be here any moment." As I spoke to them, the floor caved in and the freed hostages gasped in surprise. "Everyone, meet Azrael. Dante, levitate them down. Everyone, follow the tunnel out and look for the tree split down the middle. There is a hidden den behind it in which two other freed hostages are hiding. Hurry and do not come out for anyone or anything."

They all nodded and allowed themselves to be psychically lowered down the hole. As Dante finished with the last person, he looked at me and motioned to the hole. "No," I responded. "I need to take care of something."

Dante's eyes flashed and he said, Good.

"Azrael, close the tunnel and make sure they get back safely. Dante will teleport us out when we need to. It won't be long," Azrael looked at me intensely.

He says not to do anything stupid.

"I wouldn't dream of it," I said grimly, and then hustled to drag the guard into the room, whereupon he awoke and Gilles needed put him to sleep again. Finally, I rushed out of the room and jogged down the hall, trying to reach the interrogation room as quickly as possible, but without running too fast so that Dante could keep up. We reached the door after a few minutes and I prepared myself. I released Ceto and whispered, "I don't know how many there are in there, but I want you, Gilles, to float through the walls and hypnotize as many as you can. Keep incorporeal. Ceto, when we go in, I need you to use scald on anyone who is still conscious."

Ceto looked at me with a hard expression, but nodded anyway. I motioned for Gilles to go, just as the walkie came to life again. He disappeared through the wall and the voice in the walkie said, "Nicole! Report! We are sending a squad to the holding room. Where are – Ah!"

I heard a scuffle in the room, so I kicked the door open and Ceto rushed inside. I saw her take a quick look and jut her head forward, spraying someone with scalding water. I moved inside amidst shrieks of agony to find Prescott clutching his face. Gilles was laughing loudly and I had the faint suspicion that he had purposefully refrained from hypnotizing Prescott, knowing that Ceto would use her burningly painful attack on him. With a surge of anger I ran over to Prescott and slammed my fist into his face, forcing him to the ground.

"Dante, thunder wave," I ordered coldly. Dante's eyes glowed green before he released a wave of static over Prescott, causing his body to convulse and tense up, becoming completely stiff. Then I recalled Ceto, gathered the hypnotized men's weapons, and picked up Prescott's heavy body with considerable effort, being able to do so due to the months of training that had rendered me strong and tough. I carried him out of the room and down the halls, recalling from Nicole's memory the destination I had in mind.

After five minutes, I arrived at the building's entrance and recalled Gilles, though I held his pokeball at the ready. "Dante, teleport us into that building. I know you haven't worked on teleporting more than myself, but this is only a few hundred feet." Dante nodded willingly and focused, his eyes glowing bright, and then teleported all three of us.

I immediately released Gilles when we appeared with a pop, and he hypnotized three guards at once. A fourth guard leveled a pistol at Gilles in fright and shot, but the bullet went through his wispy body and ricocheted dangerously off of a wall. Dante responded to the gunshot by recoiling at the noise and quickly bringing up a shield. Gilles responded by extending his shadow to behind the guard in the blink of an eye and knocking him out cold with a blow to the head. Seeing that the area was clear and knowing that the gunshot had most likely been heard, I quickly carried Prescott through the door which led to a short walkway to the garbage pit.

I carried Prescott to the edge of the pit and dropped him onto the floor. I stared coolly into his furious eyes and said, "Nicole's mind showed me enough. 'Your death will be a boon to this earth.'" I quoted her, and Prescott's eyes changed from angry to furious. "I don't have the right to decide who lives and dies… So I am out of line. In your case, however, I'm content with leaving my judgment in the hands of the legendaries," I said coldly, before picking him up again and heaving him into the pit.

Prescott groaned as his body hit the pile with a whumpf, and I looked down at him with disgust. A range of emotions passed through my mind as Grimer seeped out of multiple corners of the pit and crept towards Prescott's twitching body, but regret was not amongst them. Instead, I saw flashes of Prescott's wickedness from Nicole's memory and cringed in sickness. I heard Prescott trying to scream as multiple Grimer enveloped parts of his body and started eating him alive. Many even moved from the hostage's corpse to Prescott's, leaving raw bone and half-digested meat in their wake. I would have forced myself to watch the fruits of my decision, to attempt to feel an appropriate level of self-loathing, but at that moment, an alarm rang out through the complex.

I turned and looked to my pokemon who were looking at me expectantly. "Let's get out of here," I said with finality, recalling Gilles and taking Dante's hand in mine. The split tree appeared in front of me, and I walked around to find Sharon and Frederick huddled against the far side of the burrow.

I descended into the hole and said, amidst startled gasps, "It looks like the rest aren't here yet. I'll be back. In the meantime, I'm leaving one of my pokemon to protect you." I released Rufus, who looked around himself before looking at me. "Rufus, can you stay with these two and keep them safe, just in case? I'm going to find Azrael and the rest of the freed captives." Rufus nodded and gave a yip before plodding over to the two kids and sitting between them.

I gave them a nod and jumped out of the hole. I ran to the opening of Azrael's hole to find him leading the three other captives out, and I stopped with a smile. "Great job, Azrael!" Azrael huffed and nuzzled me before I continued. "I need one last thing from you: I need you to go back in and dig a tunnel in the opposite direction from the holes you made into the rooms. Then, on your way back, I need you to cover the tunnels leading in this direction."

Azrael huffed and nodded, moving out of the way of the three remaining prisoners to allow them to pass by. The three of them hurried out, having to duck slightly in the tunnel, and then Azrael charged back into the tunnel. "Everyone, follow me," I ordered, and I led the freed prisoners into the burrow.

Rufus gave a subdued howl at my arrival, and the group of rescued prisoners huddled together, looking at me thankfully. I then released the rest of my pokemon and said to them, "Well, everyone, I don't think that could have gone any better. Thank you for your help, and I apologize for putting some of you in controversial situations you were not privy to beforehand," I said, eyeing Ceto specifically.

Ceto hovered over to me and eyed me up and down. Dante moved beside her and they seemed to converse for a minute before Dante said, I told her what transpired and she says that she does not condone what you did, but she does not denounce you for it either. She understands why you did it and might have responded the same.

"Thank you, Ceto." My words were genuine and she blew a small cloud of bubbles onto my face.

"Sir, I don't know who you are or what you feel bad about doing, but we are all so grateful for you," said a voice in the burrow. Alecia had stepped forward and had a warm smile across her dirty face. "Thank you so much for saving us," she said, before stepping up to me and shaking my hand vigorously. The rest of the people responded similarly, though Sharon wrapped me in an appreciative hug.

I looked back at them humbly and said, "I don't know what to say besides, 'You're welcome.'" With a smile, I looked back to my pokemon and said, "You all helped to make this possible. I thank you all so much. And thank you so much, Dante. I know it must have been hard to follow my orders with little explanation."

It was not difficult, J'Kun. He replied.

"I'm happy for that," I said back. "Because without your help, I would not have been able to succeed tonight."

Dante looked at me proudly before he spoke. I was wrong about you J'Kun. You are worthy of my allegiance. I looked at him amazedly and happily at the same time. He approached me and looked up into my eyes before sinking onto a floating knee. J'Kun, from henceforth, you have my loyalty, my trust, and my devotion.

My heart leapt as Dante spoke, and when he finished his pledge, he burst into a brilliant white light.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! So this was a particularly long chapter; and particularly dark near the end. But hey, Azrael and Dante evolved! And the MC is a hero, again. And Chris and Sheila are gone, so now the MC is on his own journey once more. Thank you everyone for following so far, and thank you once more for commenting! Please do not hesitate to comment more!


	16. Chapter 16: Ideological Shift

Chapter 16

_I… can see… everything._

"Everything?"

_I can see it all. The minds of 32 Yeshka scampering about the stone encampment. The six of you here. Your emotions flood over me like the falling water of a crashing waterfall. _Dante's eyes were closed. _Ugh. They are… unfocused. They assault my mind like a swarm of angry, shrieking … Beedrill. I… can't… filter… Too many… Ugh!_

Dante fell to both of his knees and brought his arms to his head. The Gallade would now stand at my height, his thin, weak legs replaced by strong, athletic white legs. His green forearms featured a slick, sharp edge, and when he brought his fingers to his galea-shaped head, wicked blades extended from his elbows, doubling his arm-blades' lengths. He had rounded hips, a dark blue, mohawk-like rim on his head, white horns protruding from the sides of his face, red horns protruding from his chest and back, and maroon eyes.

Dante looked to be suffering, so I decided to return him to his pokeball. When I looked up, the five people standing nearby were looking at me in astonishment. "I've never seen anything like that…" mumbled Frederick.

"Me neither," said Sharon. "Congratulations!"

I smiled and said, "Thank you, but there is not much time to celebrate. Once Azrael returns we are going to leave. We will head east until we hit Route 5, but we need to hurry. The Meteors will most certainly be checking the surrounding area for us, so we will be traveling behind Azrael underground for at least a mile."

Everyone nodded and we waited for Azrael to return, which occurred ten minutes later. After he arrived, Azrael dug a straight path in an eastern direction and we all followed, five feet below the surface. Meanwhile, Ceto drilled holes into the ceiling with water to allow fresh oxygen into the channel. We had trouble keeping up with Azrael's quick burrowing, and after ten minutes I ordered him to angle upwards to the surface.

With our combined body heat and quick pace, it was very warm underground, and the wind on my sweaty skin felt cool as we emerged. It was refreshing and it allowed us to continue at our pace with renewed vigor. Our speed slowed after an hour, however, as my weary companions started to fall behind. Unfortunately, the lack of food and daily beatings had rendered the former prisoners weak.

To solve that problem, I decided that we would stop and make camp. It was mostly underground, but it had room for air to enter and for campfire smoke to leave. While Ceto watched over the resting refugees, Azrael, Rufus, Gilles, and I hunted. "We need to bring back enough food to feed everyone," I informed my pokemon. "If that means we must go without dinner, then so be it. We can survive a day without food but I'm not sure if they can. Once we get back to Saffron with everyone safe and sound, I will purchase a few Miltank for you all; how about that?"

All three of my partners reacted excitedly and helped me search for wild pokemon. Since night was approaching, nocturnal pokemon were beginning to awaken and daytime pokemon were beginning to nest. The lack of daylight allowed Rufus to practice his intrinsic abilities while he hunted, which were so effective that he caught more birds than either Gilles or Azrael. Our combined haul was capable of feeding all of the people in my group, as well as giving Azrael a snack and Rufus a meal.

As we ate, I looked to everyone and said, "Rest up and eat your fill, everyone. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. I'm not sure how far Route 5 is, but the sooner we reach it, the sooner I can call for help."

They nodded and thanked me over again. In order to make conversation and to get to know the refugees, I asked for a short background on each. I found out that Sharon and Frederick were the only surviving passengers on an airplane headed from Cerulean City to Fuchsia City. Sharon, a first-year student at Fuchsia University studying pokemon biology, was a member of the university tennis team. She and the rest of her tennis team were returning from a duel with a smaller college in Cerulean when their plane was taken down. Needless to say, none of Sharon's teammates survived.

Frederick was traveling to Fuchsia to visit his relatives with his father, who also did not survive the crash. Though for someone whose father recently died, he was either dealing with it incredibly well or he was still in shock.

Joseph, I found out, was a BioTech accountant who had been abducted a few weeks back. Alecia also worked for BioTech, though she was a chemical engineer. Both Joseph and Alecia were in their thirties and neither had a spouse or children, but were abducted for their career affiliations.

When I found out who Kenneth was, I was astonished. Kenneth had been captured a month prior, and his brother, Henry Ludiger, was a Member of Parliament. The Meteors had been attempting to use Kenneth as leverage in making demands against his brother for almost half a month now.

It came as a surprise that I had not heard about the abduction of Senator Ludiger's brother. Maybe it simply was not being publicized, as it might create panic or doubt towards Senator Ludiger's legitimacy. Either way, it was a good thing to have rescued him. After we finished hearing about each other, we went to bed, though I remained awake to keep watch and so that I could release Dante.

When everyone had gone to sleep, I decided to release Dante. While Rufus kept watch, Azrael accompanied me a short distance from camp, and when Dante appeared from within the Ultra ball, he was still holding his head. He remained standing, which I saw as an immediate improvement. "Dante, are you alright?" I asked.

Dante looked at me with strained eyes. _Whilst in the blackness, I could work to focus my thoughts. Everything is still unfocused and painful. I regret to ask, but may I return to the blackness? It is far less painful and I can continue to grow accustomed to my newfound mental prowess. _Dante hung his head in shame as he requested to be returned to his pokeball.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "If it will help you gain control over your abilities, then absolutely. I just needed to see that you were alright."

_I will be._ He answered in pained confidence. I nodded, returned him, and then walked back to camp.

In the morning, I woke everyone and led us east. Our pace slowed and quickened as time progressed and as the terrain constantly shifted. My focus was solely on moving forward and my steadfast attitude rubbed off on my companions. While we trekked eastward, a tendril of unease and guilt poked in the back of my mind, but I kept it at bay by focusing on the task in front of me. Though we had to stop occasionally, the breaks were never for long. We trudged on, watching the sun snake its way across the sky until it fell below the tops of the trees.

We continued walking during the night until my PokeDex's service light switched on. I immediately halted the group and dialed the Rangers.

"Hello? This is trainer MacAfee, ID number KA523VI979. I have an emergency. I have five rescued hostages from a Meteor encampment off of Route 5. Please hurry," I explained anxiously. Within ten minutes, two rangers had descended atop a Fearow and a Pidgeotto.

"Trainer!" one of the officers hailed. "Return your pokemon immediately." The ranger, obviously the higher-ranked officer, dismounted and looked at us. "My name is Officer Richards. These are the alleged hostages?" he asked, looking at the others. I nodded and he asked for their names. Then he retrieved a handheld transceiver and called for aid. He also requested the assistance of Katherine Holmes. Apparently we were far enough north on Route 5 to fall under her jurisdiction.

Immediately, three more rangers materialized in the vicinity, two with Kadabra in tow and the last with an Alakazam. The second ranger who had initially arrived atop the Pidgeotto performed rudimentary first aid on the rescued people to determine the extent of any injuries while the newcomers were informed of the situation.

When no significant injuries were found, the tension lightened slightly. Then the Alakazam and Kadabra started teleporting survivors away. Soon, only the first two rangers remained with me, during which time I was asked to accompany them to Cerulean. I submitted and climbed on top of the Fearow behind Officer Richards and we ascended quickly.

As the ground fell beneath us, I felt fear for a moment until I grabbed the handholds. This may not have been the first time I had flown, but as we rose into the unlit night sky, I once again felt a sense of wonder and weightlessness. The stars were shining clearly in the heavens, and small dots of campfires started appearing as we flew over the central road of Route 5.

When we landed at the Cerulean City gym twenty minutes later, I dismounted regretfully, eagerly looking forward to the day when I would feel safe riding Azrael. Leader Holmes waited beside a truly beautiful swan-like pokemon and was talking on a phone. The Swanna was a foot shorter than her and was preening its pure white feathers.

"It's been a while," Leader Holmes said, hanging up the phone as I approached. "The rescued persons are being treated for minor injuries at the moment. Now, normally I would ask for details and accompany you to the Meteor camp to put an end to its operations, since this falls under my area of responsibility. However, the Champion is getting involved and taking that pleasure from me. He should be here soon, but in the meantime, I would like to know if you, yourself, are ok."

"Yes, ma'am. I am fine," I replied.

"That's good to hear. And your pokemon?" she asked.

"They are as well," I answered.

"Good," she continued. "I assume that you were in direct contact with Meteors, since I doubt they would have simply let their hostages go free. So I'll give you this advice: speak truthfully to whatever the Champion asks. No matter if you feel like you have something to hide."

I only looked at her blankly. Then she smiled and said, "Thank you for your service. While we wait for Volker, would you mind if I inspected Ceto?" she asked.

"Of course not!" I said quickly. I pulled out her pokeball and released her in front of us. "Ceto, look who it is."

Ceto looked at Leader Holmes and squeaked happily before quickly hovering over to her. "Look at you!" Holmes said lovingly. Then Holmes took a knee in front of Ceto and continued. "You've grown so much already. Your scales aren't as thick as they can be yet, but that will come in time. Your green color is still as radiant as ever. You look a bit dehydrated, though."

Leader Holmes looked to me and said, "Try to expose her to water more frequently. Every time you are near a water source, let her soak and replenish her water reserves. Other than that, I'd say you are doing a fine job with her. I saw a video of your Nugget victory, and I'll say I'm quite impressed. Ceto is quite strong, and I saw that you've excellently trained her in the surfing technique. Keep up the good work." Leader Holmes then took out a pokeball.

Before her appeared Marina, Ceto's mother. She was slightly larger than Ceto now, was the same color of radiant green, and hovered over to inspect her young. Ceto squeaked happily once more and began rubbing up to her mother. I thought for a moment and realized that Ceto was still a baby as far as her mother was concerned. It stunned me because as far as I was concerned, she had matured into a dangerous leviathan.

After a few moments of nuzzling her young, Marina approached me and looked me in the eyes. She did not hold the same oppressive aura as Tullius, but I still felt the need to lower my gaze. When I did so, I heard a medley _pop_'s and felt my cheeks become drenched in water as Marina blew some bubbles over me. I looked up in surprise to see her giving me a happy look.

Leader Holmes then said, "Marina appreciates how you've raised Ceto so far." She then looked at her transceiver and said, "It looks like we'll be parting soon. Time to go, Marina." She returned her Seadra and took one last caring look at Ceto before Bruce appeared with his League-appropriated Xatu.

Leader Holmes stood straight and greeted the Champion with a nod, which he promptly returned before addressing me. "MacAfee. I seem to be seeing a lot of you lately. So I'm told you discovered a Meteor camp. Is this true?"

"Yes, Champion Volker," I replied. "I saw the smoke from a crashed plane and followed some Meteor personnel to their camp, where I freed their hostages."

"Is that so? Could you lead me back to it?" Volker asked.

"If we returned to where the Rangers picked me up, then yes," I responded.

"Alright. Then get ready to leave. Have you a reliable flier?" He asked.

"My Garchomp is still learning to fly well _without_ a passenger. Other than him, I don't."

"Hmm. Then it looks like you will be flying with me," Volker said as he sent a message on his phone. I was both nervous and excited to hear it. It was not a common opportunity for one to receive a ride on Volker's dragons. He released Glemdrin, who appeared with a flourish of golden grandeur. He looked to Volker and bowed his head, finding the gesture returned a moment later.

After their respectful salutations, Volker took a tube-shaped mass of leather and metal about two feet long and three inches thick, placed it upon Glemdrin's back, and then pushed a small button on the metal. The mass immediately shifted into shape, with the metal elongating around the dragon's shoulders and stomach and contorting on the middle of his back. The leather stretched with the metal to form a saddle, and when it finished, Volker leapt onto Glemdrin's back and looked over to me.

"MacAfee. Up here, now." He reached his hand down for me to grab and I reached for it ever so willingly. My weight was of no consequence as he effortlessly lifted me up with one arm to the saddle, which instantly wrapped my legs in place. I sat behind him and waited as Volker ordered Officer Richards to take us back. The ranger complied and took to the skies.

I felt Glemdrin's powerful legs tense for a second before the ground surged away. With a mighty swing of his burly wings, Glemdrin propelled us into the night sky at a speed almost unbearable to endure. My forehead jerked down into Volker's back and nearly left me unconscious as my inertia attempted to keep me in place, but Volker's form remained supple and composed.

Volker laughed when my head struck his back and apologized for the lack of warning, but I was enjoying the experience too much to feel resentful. The darkened trees below sped by as we followed the ranger in the sky, and I fell into a contented trance at the sight of the world passing us by. I was only shaken from my reverie when Glemdrin altered his course sharply into a steep descent. If not for the leg bindings on the saddle, I would have drifted away from the diving dragon.

We landed with a bone-jarring thud which shook the ground, and Champion Volker took a few minutes to thank the ranger before we took to the sky once more. When we leveled out, Volker asked, "Can you lead me there from here?"

"I can. It was a day's walk and a quarter straight west."

"Excellent," he responded. A few seconds later he asked, "So how did you get that beast of a scar?"

_The large predatory feline slunk out of the shrubs, eyeing me hungrily..._ "Luxray." I said emotionlessly, feeling the memory creeping into my consciousness.

"Ah, nasty creatures in the wild. If you managed to survive a confrontation with one of them, then I applaud you and your pokemon," the Champion congratulated. Then he said with a serious tone, "I need to know how you rescued those people."

I was silent for a while; thinking about the events brought up more bad feelings than good. "I pretended to be a survivor from the plane. When they imprisoned me with the others, Azrael burrowed under the building and my haunter cut us free. They escaped through Azrael's tunnel."

"And you?" asked Volker, not missing my dodge of the question.

"I heard that there were more hostages so I waited for a guard to check on us and had my Kirlia, who is now a Gallade, extract her memory to find out where they were being held. I found out more than I expected or wanted to know." I said.

"May I ask why you decided to use Psychic Memory Extraction? It is illegal," he asked sternly.

"I honestly did not think that there was a safer alternative. I had no idea where I was in the building and no idea where the terrorists would be. To me, it was either that, or potentially die, and considering what they have done, I made the decision that they were beyond the rights given to law-abiding citizens," I explained, attempting to justify my actions.

"Did you witness the madness?" Champion Volker asked, refraining from commenting on my explanation.

"The madness," I repeated, more a statement than a question.

"So you did, then."

"Your death will be a boon to this earth, as well as the death of your abominations," I quoted.

"Indeed… How did you deal with the Meteor?" he asked calmly.

It was as if the Champion knew somehow. His question brought forth the repressed emotions burning in the back of my mind. Nicole's memory of the execution and her maniacal, blood-saturated giggling erupted in my head. The horror I felt when I experienced her pleasure amplified a hundred-fold and I immediately felt sick. Luckily for both of us, I managed to turn my head in time to retch into the air behind us, the wind catching the contents of my stomach and carrying them away.

"I think that answers that," Volker surmised. "Killing another person can have that effect. Seeing as how it had that particular effect, I have little worry that you will make a habit of it. However, on the off-chance that I am mistaken, I will warn you not to view the taking of human life lightly, even if life seems to be lacking in an individual."

I listened to Champion Volker's warning and thought back to the events of the Meteor camp. What affected me more than anything was Nicole's hollow sadism and her mindless madness. What frightened me the most was that I felt nothing towards Prescott.

"I don't regret what I've done," I told the Champion.

"It is good that you have full confidence in your actions," Volker responded. "If you regretted something as serious as ending another life, then you would most likely lose yourself in dwelling over it. Being a trainer, there is a good chance that you see a fair share of death, and though many pokemon do not share our intelligence, we cannot discount the fact that they do, indeed, have sapience. That being said, as a trainer, you might be more jaded to death than those who do not pursue this lifestyle. Do not let that view of life take hold against your own species unless you must use it to defend yourself. If you lose your grip on humanity, there will be little to separate you from the madness you've eradicated."

I took Volker's words to heart, though I could not bring myself to feel remorse for my actions. I did not see Nicole and Prescott as human. I saw them as soulless fiends. "How do you justify killing, Champion Volker?" I asked.

"It is my duty to protect. I may not be justified by the legendaries' standards, but as the most powerful defender of human life in the League, I have the responsibility to keep civilization safe from harm. The Meteors threaten the safety which I am sworn to protect. I do not have the luxury of dwelling on the ethics of absolute justification."

I did not respond. Eventually Champion Volker spoke again. "It sounds to me like you killed in defense of an ideal. That is much more dangerous than killing for duty. Whether or not you can define that ideal is irrelevant. The fact that your actions were driven by principle is evidence enough. Be careful that you do not also become a threat to Kanto's people."

The threat behind his words was heavy, but not aggressive. He stated it as if it were an obvious reality. I was more humbled than intimidated, and I chose to remain quiet, which Volker seemed to appreciate, as he upheld the silence without further interruption.

After about half an hour, Champion Volker released his Charizard into the air. The sky lit up as a ball of fire appeared in midair and uncurled into a blazing fire wyrm. He outstretched his wings and their thin membranes caught air, slowing his decent. Soon after, a Xatu was released.

Champion Volker's Charizard let loose a flamethrower that burned so bright that it bathed the forest below in light. The Xatu also created a brilliant ball of light which was sent flying over the treetops, providing extensive additional illumination. The Charizard continued to release flames into the air so that we could search the forest below, and it was not long before I saw the outline of a couple large buildings. I pointed and yelled, and upon seeing the buildings for himself, Volker angled his massive Dragonite downward.

The air surged around us as we descended. We angled into a steeper drop than before and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as we nearly dived straight down. As we dropped out of the sky, Glemdrin let out a booming roar to announce his presence and inspire fear in potential enemies. It reverberated down his scales and caused my hairs to stand on end and vibrate.

Our speed increased rapidly and our descent was so steep that the landing would have knocked me unconscious, but the Xatu appeared right above me and teleported me away. I appeared suspended in the air above the Meteor camp, with the Xatu's talons uncomfortably gripping my shoulders. The psychic bird then wrapped me in a psychic aura and held me in the air via levitation.

I watched as Glemdrin slammed into the ground with Volker still riding him. The shockwave of his landing blew out multiple windows in the main building while fire burst from his maw, dimmer in intensity than the Charizard's flames. Charizard descended to aid the assault, and his fire washed over the campsite for half a minute before the lack of a response caused Volker to yield.

The camp was quiet, with a few harsh fires flickering within its borders. Soon after, I was teleported to the ground next to Volker. "MacAfee, walk me through here. It seems to be empty."

I nodded and headed towards the front of the building, releasing Gilles in the process. "Gilles, make a sweep of the place, just in case there are Meteors hiding out," I ordered. I was well aware that none of Volker's pokemon could fit inside the narrow halls.

"Wise move," Volker remarked, though the Xatu followed behind to keep us protected with a barrier.

I led the way into the building, which was eerily quiet. Our steps were the only disruption to the silence for several minutes, but our disturbance was soon accompanied by the sound of Gilles' laughter. Gilles appeared in front of us, making the Xatu caw in annoyance. "Did you find anyone, Gilles?" I asked.

Gilles shook his shadowy head, whereupon I let the Champion know and continued to the room where I had been kept prisoner. When we arrived, the decomposing body of Nicole still lay on the ground, filling the room with a putrid stench. It took all of my self-control to keep from gagging. Upon seeing her corpse, Champion Volker closed the door to the room.

"Show me the other room where they kept captives," Volker ordered.

I quickly led him away from the horrid room and to the next prison cell. When we arrived, Volker gave a quick sweep of the room and, finding it empty, asked, "Are these the only places of which you know?"

"I know where they beat and filmed their prisoners," I informed him.

"Show me."

I led him to the other building, where we met with a gruesome sight. Three men lay lifeless on the floor. Blood pooled around two of them who had bullet holes in their foreheads, while the third was lying face-down. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that it was the man Gilles had punched in the back of the head. I saw that the back of his head was bloodied and realized that Gilles' punch might have been much more lethal than I had initially judged.

I looked at Gilles crossly and he simply shrugged with a giggle. My eyes inevitably wandered to the door to the waste disposal and Volker noticed. "What's through there?" he asked.

"The garbage…" I said, hesitantly.

Champion Volker walked through the door and I followed behind. He stopped at the lip of the garbage drop and looked down. Soon after, the Xatu started cawing furiously and Volker looked back at me. "Let's leave. Evil things have happened here and horrid memories still linger."

I did not question him, and within a couple minutes I was standing beside Glemdrin with Gilles floating above my shoulder. Gilles was regarding the building we had just come from warily while Volker rushed into the largest structure. Fifteen minutes later, the Champion hurried back out and asked, "Did you recover anything from the base?"

"I grabbed a few walkies and a bunch of handguns. So that if they somehow caught up to us, they wouldn't have their weapons," I responded. The Champion asked for them all, and I obliged him, emptying my bag of all of the evidence I had accrued.

Afterwards, we both climbed onto Glemdrin's back before being lifted into the sky. When we were about 150 feet from the ground, Volker barked orders to his Charizard and Glemdrin, "Glemdrin, Tulvir, destroy the complex!"

With thunderous roars, both of the dragons arched their necks back, and orbs of light grew at their jaws. In one second, the small orbs grew to the size of basketballs. In two, they had grown to two feet in diameter. After five seconds, the orbs of light were around six feet in diameter and I could feel Glemdrin's body humming.

With a jolt, Glemdrin's orb of light exploded out as a beam of energy which made contact with the main building almost instantly. Tulvir's beam of light mirrored Glemdrin's, and they sustained the yellow, white, and blue energy of the hyper beams for several seconds, dragging them over the building and disintegrating large swaths of it.

The two dragons made short work of the structure before their hyper beams sizzled out. Then their eyes glowed bright red, they looked to the sky, and breathed a blue fire, which coalesced into orbs of red light which surged to the camp and exploded on impact. By the time the volley of draco meteors was finished, all that remained of the camp was smoldering rubble.

I watched with silent antipathy as the complex was destroyed, though I could not help but be intimidated by the sheer power of Volker's pokemon. One day I would send my friends against those terrifying creatures, and the thought of it gave me mixed feelings. On the one hand, I would never fight the Champion if I did not have full confidence in my pokemon; but on the other hand, they looked nearly invincible from my current viewpoint.

When the meteors of draconic energy finished their destructive rain, a flash of pokeball energy revealed Tullius in the center of the camp. He looked up to the sky and a purplish aura rippled through the air in a fifty foot radius from him, which was then projected into the sky. Clouds started condensing quickly, blocking the stars from sight, and I watched as heavy raindrops started pouring down upon the campsite.

Then, Tullius inhaled and blasted the areas next to the trees with a thick, powerful, and continuous stream of water, which quenched the fires and protected the forest. When Tullius was finished, Volker expertly aimed his Greatball and recalled Tullius. With our mission complete, we landed once more and Volker's Xatu teleported us to Cerulean.

The rest of the night went by quickly for me. We appeared outside of the gym where Leader Holmes was conveniently waiting, and she brought us inside where Champion Volker informed her of the events of his raid. After I had originally escaped, the Meteors had abandoned their post, probably in fear of me informing the League, and had taken with them all of the important evidence we could have used. Volker told me that the events would be kept secret from the media for the purpose of keeping the populace from panicking and reporters from hassling me about the Meteors. The cover story was that I had rescued passengers from the downed plane.

After the briefing, we visited the ex-hostages at the hospital, and I was thanked profusely by every one of them. I was surprised to see Kenneth's brother present, who extended me an invitation to visit him in Pewter City. I was grateful for the offer and promised to take him up on it as soon as I could; perhaps in a few days after I finished in Saffron City.

Afterwards the Champion addressed me, "MacAfee, thank you for your service. I'm not sure what would have eventually happened to those whom you saved, though I'd like to think that they would have been recovered eventually. Thanks to you, they are safe _now_, and although we could not take down the entire operation, at least you recovered some of their weapons and we could at least return those who were abducted. If you need anything, feel free to ask. Also, on the behalf of the League, I will offer you a small gift in appreciation of your efforts."

With that said, Champion Volker handed over a check of 5,000Pb. "Thank you, Champion Volker. There _is_ something you can help me with, actually. I'm traveling to Saffron to challenge the gym, and although I would normally just walk there, I would like to avoid the media's attention here. Could I possibly receive a teleport to Saffron City?"

"I guess that is acceptable," responded the Champion. I thanked him once more and he immediately teleported me to a PokeCenter in Saffron City. Before he left, Champion Volker warned me, "Remember what I said, kid. Do not become soulless. The league appreciates the efforts of its trainers in providing safety for the people of this earth, but only insofar as you do not threaten the safety which you provide. Good luck at the gym and at the JIC." With that, he teleported away and I checked in to the PokeCenter.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

_Raeda's shrieks echoed off the cave wall like the crash of cymbals, and I screamed for her. They grew louder and louder until I thought I might go deaf, and then they warped into gurgling laughter. Raeda's red eyes became set in the face of Nicole, who laughed at my pain and sorrow for Raeda. Then the body shifted again into the frozen body of Prescott, and the world was filled with the sound of his muffled screams. _

_The red eyes stared at me furiously from within his squirming skull before the body vanished, leaving the red eyes staring at me as two orbs of light in the darkness. The eyes made me furious and miserable at the same time. The eyes grew larger until they filled my vision, and the lightest sound of baritone laughter fluttered in the darkness._

I sat up in my bed drenched in a cold sweat, still half-asleep. The screams filled my ears and the red eyes filled my vision, but they faded quickly, leaving me in the dark PokeCenter room. My sight rested on the corner of the room as reality came into focus, and for the briefest moment, I thought I saw red eyes staring at me from the darkness.

The vision of my dream finally passed, leaving me sweating, breathing hard, and feeling anxious. My adrenaline faded quickly, and I lay back down with a sigh and fell into a dreamless sleep.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"We have a couple days before our gym battle, everyone," I addressed my pokemon. "By that time, I want us to have our strategy down. This is where the League starts becoming much more difficult. We _will_ be ready to meet the challenge."

Amidst the corpses of two Miltank, my team gave mixed examples of enthusiasm and determination. I was immensely happy to see it, so I gave them a wide grin. "Now, I've already talked to you all about this, but I'll quickly go over what the general strategy is. Johnathan Kay is notorious for teaching his pokemon a hybrid of both the physical-blocking and energy-blocking barriers, and since they are proficient with the technique, we'll need to use our strongest techniques against them to bypass those barriers. But we need to hold back just enough so that you aren't too tired to follow up with another attack, or so that you aren't left open for a counter-attack.

"Now, Rufus and Gilles will be the most effective at Saffron, but I will still want as many of you to compete as possible. Dante, now that you have been able to focus your thoughts, I think I will allow you to battle, but we have to work on some things. I bought some new TM's for today that I want you to start working on, especially _X-Scissor_."

Dante nodded and said, _As you wish, J'Kun. May our upcoming foes fall before us as the leaves from the trees in the Autumn. _Then he extended his arm-blades in readiness.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I sat in the waiting room with Ceto, the both of us calm and composed. I was not worried in the least; I had two different types of pokemon who were psychics' natural predators. All I needed to do was wait… And then my name was finally called.

Leader Kay stood at the far end of an enclosed, barren, hard dirt arena wearing a black suit. His wavy blonde hair hung loosely over his ears and his brown eyes locked on to me the moment I walked through the challenger's archway.

We met halfway, both walking with deliberate and focused strides, and shook hands. "Challenger, welcome to the Saffron City gym, the fifth in the circuit. Link your 'Dex." I did so. "Simple rules: switch on my order, two mid-fight changes, two maximum potions, and refrain from attacking me or the audience. Now take your position, and good luck."

I nodded and turned to my podium. When I arrived, the box speaker came to life. "I've heard about you, MacAfee. Let's see what you've got; hopefully you can give me my first loss in a week."

The crowd ooh'ed as my stats flashed across the screen – 4-0 gym record, two-time undefeated Nugget Bridge frontrunner, and this year's JIC invite.

**Ladies and gentlemen, we have a talented trainer here today. Let's see what wonders he has in store. **

I smiled and said, "I hardly need hope," and released Dante onto the field. **The challenger has started with a Gallade!**

"Impressive, MacAfee. He looks to be newly-evolved," Kay remarked intuitively.

A Kadabra appeared before Dante, twirling a spoon through its fingers. The four-foot-tall biped looked like a yellow fox, with red fur on its forehead and a bushy mustache. It stepped forward and faced Dante. A tense moment passed, and the referee signaled us to begin.

"Light screen!" I yelled, and both pokemon brought up transparent barriers, which flickered and grew invisible. "Get in close and X-Scissor!" I continued.

The Kadabra's eyes glowed blue as he attempted to extend a psychic force to Dante, but Dante had teleported behind it and brought both blades across his chest, slicing in an X-motion. The force of the chop sent the fox stumbling forward and its barrier shuddering. Dante stepped forward to attack once more but the Kadabra teleported away.

When the Kadabra reappeared, it immediately summoned a psychic beam of energy and released it towards Dante. Having sensed the attack coming, Dante teleported behind the Kadabra just as its beam passed through his position, and then struck once more with an X-Scissor, dimming its barrier. The fox teleported away once more, following up with a purposefully weak psybeam and another teleport.

Following the first teleport, Dante repeated his parry but found air as the Kadabra had teleported away for the second time. As soon as Dante appeared, he was hit in the chest by a well-place psybeam, which staggered him for a moment and made his light screen flicker. What followed was a series of teleports, the Kadabra fleeing around the arena to create room between it and its opponent, and Dante pursuing it.

Eventually the psychic dance came to a close when Dante predicted the location where Kadabra would teleport and appeared there before it. With a final X-Scissor, he ripped through the Kadabra's barrier, slicing into its thin hide with a spray of blood and rendering it unconscious.

**The challenger's Gallade has triumphed! Let's see if he can hold his momentum.**

"Good job. Your Gallade needs more work, but he has potential. Ready yourself, challenger," Leader Kay told me through the speaker. With that, a Hypno appeared on the battlefield and I switched out Dante for Ceto. "Hmm. It's good to see that you care for the well-being of your Gallade," the speaker chimed. The Hypno, a yellow bipedal humanoid with a large nose, a white mane, and a shiny pendulum, looked sleepily at his opponent.

At the start of battle I yelled, "Hydro pump!" and Ceto obeyed. A condensed blast of water discharged from Ceto's snout and impacted the Hypno's thigh, causing it to fall to the ground. However, before the Hypno was hit and while the hydro pump was being released, it lulled Ceto into a deep hypnosis with its pendulum. As with the Kadabra, the Hypno seemed to be following unspoken commands.

While Ceto was sleeping, the Hypno erected a barrier and launched a thunderwave at her. The static caused her body to convulse and wake up, though she was unable to act until after the Hypno hit her with a psychic beam. During that time, I was shouting orders, and when she finally responded, she was incredibly effective.

After she took the hit, Ceto released a jet of water which was laced with her natural, acidic poison, and hit the Hypno in the face. It fell to the ground, twitched, and then fell limp. Kay recalled his Hypno amidst the sound of the commentator. **Amazing! The challenger's Seadra has taken out Leader Kay's Hypno in two attacks!**

"So it seems like your reputation holds. We are going to phase two; I'm giving you three pokemon to fight. Switch yours out," Leader Kay ordered.

I decided to send out Gilles, whose opponent was revealed as a Metang, a two-clawed metal disk with psychic powers. **It looks like the challenger is using the effective ghost type against Leader Kay.**

"Good choice," remarked Leader Kay, before the signal to start was given. "Hypnotize it and then start using shadow balls!" I ordered. With a cackle, Gilles was able to hypnotize the Metang by projecting massive illusions of his eyes, though not before it created a barrier.

Gilles then started to gather energy, spending more time than usual to form a stronger attack, and then released the devastating shadow ball. It washed over the metal pokemon, charring its body, sending it crashing to the ground, and driving it from its slumber. It immediately responded with a powerful psychic attack, which struck Gilles' body, reacted negatively with his bodily poisons, and caused him to shriek in pain.

Gilles immediately put the Metang back into a deep sleep. "Dream eater!" I yelled, and Gilles responded by drawing energy from his opponent to repair his own body. Luckily, the Metang remained asleep and Gilles was able to draw enough energy to fuel a shadow ball with the same strength as before. However, Leader Kay recalled the Metang before Gilles could release the attack, making Gilles' shadow ball hit nothing but earth.

**And the challenger's pokemon is the victor!**

"That was intelligent battling, trainer," Leader Kay commended me. "Repairing your pokemon's wounds while it was safe was smart. Now switch your pokemon again." I switched Gilles out for Rufus. **And he has sent out a dark type! The challenger has brought an arsenal!**

Rufus now faced an Alakazam, the final evolution of the Abra line. It differed from the Kadabra in that it held two spoons instead of one, it did not have a tail, and it did not have a red patch of fur on its yellow forehead.

The Alakazam started by erecting a barrier, while I yelled, "Charge Pulse!" Rufus obeyed and shot across the barren field in a blaze of fire. He slammed into the Alakazam's barrier, which the Alakazam was focusing on absolutely, and as a result, the attack was effectively blocked. Rufus followed up with a concentrated dark pulse, which disrupted the psychic barrier and hit the Alakazam full force, knocking him back and causing him to teleport away.

**The gym leader's psychic barriers and attacks have no effect against the challenger's dark energy. **When the Alakazam reappeared, its eyes started glowing pink. "Dark pulse again! Follow up with a flame charge and a feint attack," I ordered.

Rufus sent out another concentrated pulse of dark energy and then charged straight into the Alakazam when it teleported out of the way. Rufus slammed into the Alakazam in a fiery explosion, and then slashed his opponent across the right cheek after making it believe he was lunging for its foot. The Alakazam responded with a powerful psychic force which sent Rufus careening away.

I then realized that the pink glow in the Alakazam's eyes was allowing it to home in on Rufus's particular placement in reality, and therefore use psychic attacks effectively against him. "Charge pulse, charge pulse!" I yelled, and Rufus took off in a fiery rush. The Alakazam teleported away to be hit by a dark pulse. It happened once more before the Alakazam slumped to the ground in exhaustion.

**What a wild ride! **Yelled the announcer. "Again, great strategy: playing on your strengths. Now the real test begins," Leader Kay said ominously. "Though, before I release Luther, I would like to test a theory." I was not sure what he meant, and it did not help that the gym leader did not move or talk afterwards.

Then all of a sudden, I felt a hazy presence in my mind. _–eresting. –is new_, I heard. Then the speakers came to life once more. "I've never felt the presence of the shift in a first-year trainer. This is indeed interesting. Anyway, back to the battle." Leader Kay refocused on the battle and a Gallade appeared before Rufus.

**This is Leader Kay's final pokemon! Let's see what happens. **The Gallade's eyes glowed orange while I yelled, "Smog! Then feint and dark pulse!"

Luther brought up a barrier while Rufus poured poisonous gas towards him. The gas had little effect; and the Gallade teleported next to Rufus before pounding him with its forearms in a powerful brick break. Rufus yelped and retaliated with a feint attack, but the Gallade saw where the attack was coming and blocked Rufus's bite by slamming his palm down on the top of Rufus's head, knocking him out cold.

I recalled Rufus regretfully as the announcer yelled out over the din of the crowd. **And the challenger loses his first pokemon! Looks like he's bringing out his Haunter once more. **Gilles now floated before me, his sadistic eyes fixated on Luther.

"He's already taken out Rufus, Gilles. Start with a shadow ball, then Hypno-heal," I commanded. Gilles cackled and the battle began. The Gallade sent blades of psychic energy slicing through the air at Gilles, but Gilles was able to dodge them while sending balls of ghostly energy slamming into him.

The Gallade teleported to a different part of the arena and sent a psychic force at Gilles - not as powerful as the Alakazam's but still effective. Gilles shrieked once more before projecting an image of his face and forcing the Gallade asleep. The Gallade slumbered as Gilles ate his dreams, sapped his energy, and healed his own wounds. Luther awoke soon after and teleported behind Gilles, his arm-blades rippling with dark energy, and sliced Gilles' form. He shrieked and responded with a shadow punch, hitting the Gallade full in the chest, but Luther took the opportunity of being so close to strike once more with dark energy.

Gilles fell from the air as condensed shadow, and I recalled him. **That's another one down. It looks like Leader Kay is coming back. **I sent out Azrael and yelled, "This Gallade has taken out both Rufus and Gilles. Time to end this!" Azrael responded with a loud roar and a stomp. **Wow! A Garchomp! Can it earn our challenger victory today?**

"Flamethrower!" I yelled after the battle began. "Then doze-storm." The Gallade's eyes glowed orange and his charred chest healed over, but he was hit by a stream of burning flames, hurting him while he healed. He teleported away from the flames as Azrael kicked up a thick sandstorm, and then I stomped and slid my foot forward sideways.

The Gallade teleported just as Azrael burst from the earth, carrying with him a wave of dirt. The Gallade appeared just behind Azrael and brought his forearms down upon Azrael's head. With a roar of anger, Azrael whipped around and brought claws infused with draconic energy slashing with the motion, but hit nothing. Luther had teleported away once more, but since Azrael's storm was so large, Luther had no choice but to teleport inside of it.

I quickly slid my foot forward sideways, and then did so again, but with a circle as part of the motion. Azrael sent a bulldoze raging into the storm, but the Gallade appeared behind him. Azrael raised a wall of dirt completely around himself ten feet high, and sent it surging out. However, Azrael proved too slow, for the Gallade disappeared once more and appeared inside the wall. He then unleashed a devastating series of slices and punches, ignoring its own safety in exchange for an all-out, powerful assault.

Azrael kicked up a thick bulldoze to protect himself, which slammed into Luther with incredible force. Luther was sent tumbling away, and I yelled, "Quick! Follow him!" while sliding my foot forward sideways repeatedly. Azrael lunged forward and kicked up another wave of dirt, but the Gallade managed to dodge it in time.

Luther appeared fifty feet away and his eyes started glowing orange. "Don't let him heal! Rock slide!" I yelled. Azrael quickly brought up a rock the size of a basketball and hurled it through the air at high velocity, sacrificing size for speed. Just as Luther's wounds started healing, the rock struck him in the center of his mass, breaking a few ribs and sending him crashing to the ground unconscious.

As soon as Leader Kay recalled him, the announcer shouted enthusiastically. **He's done it! The challenger has beaten the gym leader! Give it up for the first trainer to earn the Marsh Badge in over a week! This also gives him a gym score of 5-0!**

Leader Kay and I met at midfield and shook hands once more. Azrael had trudged over wearily to join me, and I decided not to return him for the moment.

"Congratulations trainer," said Leader Kay. "You have earned the Marsh Badge, as well as the TM _Calm Mind. _That was a very impressive performance, though a word of advice: if you want to make it in the upper echelons of the League, you need to develop move sets so that you are not verbally advertising your strategy. And lastly, I would like you to come back and visit after you finish the circuit so that we can talk."

"What did you mean when you said 'the shift'?" I asked, remembering his cryptic observation.

"Finish the circuit, and I'll explain," Leader Kay replied, just as cryptically. Leader Kay then looked at Azrael and said, "You were magnificent, Azrael. Be proud of your victory. Not many opponents find it against Luther." Azrael huffed confidently as if it was not difficult for him, but his actions belied his weary state.

I thanked him and exited the stadium. After sending a message to Sheila, I received my rewards from the victor's booth, had my picture taken, and called my parents. The call was a normal after-gym phone call, with the exception that my father asked if we could talk about my decision to send him fire pokemon when we next met. I agreed and returned to the Pokemon Center, allowing Ceto to accompany me since she was not hurt, and since I did not want to expose Dante to the multitude of human consciousness.

I immediately admitted my pokemon to the Center and saw that Sheila had responded to my message.

_That's great to hear! It must have been really difficult. I heard that Chris challenged it last week and lost. He told me that a Gallade single-handedly beat his entire team after they had been weakened from the other gym pokemon. It looks like you had a lot more luck, so congratulations. Also, I was given an invitation to the JEGC! I'm so excited! I know that it starts half a week before the Kanto JIC, so I might be able to come see you. I guess it depends on how well we both do. But anyway, congrats again! –Sheila_

I smiled and sent her a quick, short reply. I thanked her for her compliments, I expressed my disappointment that Chris had lost, and I wished her luck at the Junior Ever Grande Conference. Then I made plans to leave for Pewter, where I decided to take up Senator Ludiger on his offer and pay Leader Craul a visit.

I would have to wait until the following day to leave since my pokemon were undergoing medical treatment. In the meantime, I notified the Member of Parliament, through his secretary, and Leader Craul that I would be in Pewter City. In a few hours, I had two different appointments; one around noon at the Ludiger Mansion and another six hours later at the gym.

Finding myself with the rest of the day left and nothing to do, I decided to shop for some useful TM's and extra supplies for the month in training I had planned before the JIC. By the time I returned to the Center, it was past dark, so I decided to head to bed.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

_Crunching and screaming. Raeda's agonizing shrieks rang out in a small cavern as she was eaten alive. I tried to run to her, but I was hit in the face with a baseball bat and thrown to my back. I looked up with bloody vision at Prescott's savage eyes as he lifted the bat above my head. Just as he tensed to bring the bat down on my forehead, Raeda's screams silenced. _

_Raeda's screams were replaced by a baritone laughing that was audible enough to send shivers down my spine. Prescott's eyes glowed red and he brought the club down to my face._

I gasped and woke up sweating. I spent a couple minutes calming my breathing. Perhaps Gilles kept more unpleasant dreams away on a regular basis than I thought. When I had calmed down, I fell into another dreamless sleep.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

When I opened my eyes the next morning around 9:00, I found myself anxious and excited to retrieve my pokemon. I sat up quickly, but froze when I saw a two-foot-tall doll sitting on the dresser. I did not remember there being a doll when I entered the room previously, but then again I had fallen asleep quickly once I returned from the department store. It was still unsettling, to say the least, that I did not remember such an ugly doll being in my room. It was dark gray, it looked to be woven with coarse threads, and its eyes were closed. After a moment of unease, I rose from the bed and ignored it as I packed my belongings and left.

An hour later I was paying for teleportation to Pewter City, and ten minutes after that, I was paying for a taxi to drive me to the Ludiger Mansion.

A tall stone wall encircled the enormous house, the only opening being a gate through which the road passed. When my cab arrived at the gate, I used an intercom system to alert the residents of the house of my arrival, and I was allowed entrance.

The house was impressive, the lawns pristine, and the gardens well-tended. I was greeted at the front door by a concierge dressed in fine garb who led me into the extravagant interior. Upon my entrance, my gaze was drawn momentarily to a well-groomed Skitty lying in a fluffy basket, but I looked away to observe the magnificence of the remainder of the mansion's interior. It reminded me somewhat of my house before Kira… but I quickly put that out of my mind to avoid feeling down.

I did not have to wait long before Kenneth walked into the room, looking better than the last time I saw him and wearing clean clothing. "Welcome!" he greeted jovially.

"Hello, Kenneth," I said back, grasping his hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you," he said with a smile. "Thankfully, I was not severely injured. They let me go the morning after I was admitted."

"Well I'm happy to hear that. So your brother invited me; will he be joining us soon?" I asked.

"Actually," Kenneth said with an awkward frown. "He will not be joining us. The invitation was more or less to show the public that he is grateful to those who help his family."

I was surprised and slightly disgusted, but Kenneth spoke before I could express my disapproval. "Don't take it personally. He's back in Saffron City now; they are in the midst of debating the new PME law. It may seem dishonest on our behalf, but he has the region's interests at heart. …It's difficult to explain."

"I guess that would make sense if we weren't a _part_ of the region," I said disdainfully.

Kenneth rubbed the back of his neck and explained. "Like I said, it's complicated. He believes that his time is best spent helping the most people he can at once, which most of the time is at the capitol building."

"I don't think I'm going to understand," I said, shaking my head.

"Well anyway, let us alter the course of this conversation. It will do us no good. Please, have a drink and talk with me for a while. I even have the cooks preparing a meal," Kenneth said congenially.

I nodded and put my distaste of Kenneth's brother out of mind. At least Kenneth seemed to have a more tasteful personality.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Lunch and conversation with Kenneth was wonderful and allowed me to leave without feeling flustered. Though we mostly only chatted about my adventures and successes with the Indigo League, I did manage to ask Kenneth about the nature of the Meteors' blackmail. He would not divulge any details, but the gist was that Senator Ludiger was denying their efforts. According to Kenneth, he did not have much time left before the Meteors found him useless.

Now, I found myself headed to the gym via Kenneth's personal chauffeur. After a brief ride, I was dropped off in front of the gym. I released Ceto and allowed her to accompany me inside, where I attempted to purchase a ticket, but the lady at the desk looked at me and said, "I wouldn't waste your money, hon. We don't have many challengers around this time of the year."

"Well, I have an appointment with Leader Craul after gym hours, and since I don't have anything else to do until then, I figured I'd watch," I replied, not sure what I was supposed to do in the meantime.

"Hmm," thought the woman. "Well how about this: since it's pretty much the off-season, I'll give you the ticket 50% off."

"That would be great," I said with a smile. "Thank you very much, ma'am."

"Don't worry about it, hon," she replied with a wink. "Though I'll have to ask you to return your pokemon while you're inside."

I nodded, returned Ceto, and entered the gym after paying for the ticket. It was odd being inside a gym and not hearing the roar of a crowd; it gave the place an eerie ambiance. When I found a seat, I could only see five other people in the stands, though they all sat together and talked boisterously.

Down on the gym floor, I could see Leader Craul leaning on the stadium wall and chatting with another gym trainer, there was apparently no reason to expect a challenger. Because nothing really was happening, I simply leaned back in my chair and started making some training notes on my PokeDex app in preparation for the next month before the JIC.

Before I could get too far, though, I heard Leader Craul's booming voice echo throughout the gym. "MacAfee! You're a bit early, yeah?"

I looked down and Leader Craul was gazing up at me from the floor. I smiled and stood up, catching the attention of the other spectators if the gym leader had not already. "I was free and I did not know what else to do in the meantime, so I figured I would come down and wait here."

"Well as you can see, there isn't much to watch right now. And it's not like you are challenging me," Leader Craul called out.

"Why? Don't think you could take me?" I taunted in good spirits.

"WAHAHAHAHAHA!" Craul boomed. "You got spunk, kid, I'll give you that! Come on down here so we don't have to shout!"

Though I did not think that Aoro Craul's vocal chords were in peril, I still leapt from my seat and made my way to the stadium grounds. When I arrived, Leader Craul crossed his arms with a grin and said, "Long time no see, MacAfee. I saw your battle with Johnny; pretty damn impressive to keep an unbeaten gym record to this point."

"Thank you, Leader Craul. It's certainly been a thrilling adventure keeping it that way," I said, flattered.

"Well don't have too much fun, kid, or you'll wind up with worse than what you've got on your face," he said heartily, motioning to my scarred countenance.

"Yeah, let's just say that being attacked by a Luxray isn't my idea of a thrill," I said painfully.

"A Luxray, you say? Well take my arms and call me a Diglett, that's a damn impressive thing to live past. I'd like to know how it played out if you wouldn't mind telling me later," Craul asked, sending me flashbacks of that night.

"Sure thing, Leader Craul," I tentatively agreed.

"So what are your plans now, MacAfee?" asked Craul. "It's May 17th and the JIC starts on June 11th."

"Well I have a month of training ahead of me," I explained. "I was planning on heading north from Cerulean and training up in the mountains. My pokemon have a lot to work on in order to prepare, especially my Gallade."

"Hmm. That's a good plan," he said thoughtfully. "Will there be anything in particular that you will be working on?"

"Well, I think that my team's attack strengths are good enough at the moment, except for maybe Dante. I was thinking of working on speed, evasion, and toughness, as well teaching them a few more TM's."

"Well it's good to see that you're trying to be well-rounded. Are you finding any difficulties in training, yet?" he asked.

"Only that my highest level pokemon are slowing down in level progression, although I assumed that higher levels are more difficult to gain."

"Your assumption is correct," Leader Craul said to me. "Many trainers hit a plateau at some point with their pokemon. Hopefully you can find a way around it, though I believe you won't need to."

"Why is that, Leader Craul?" I asked.

"Let's just say that you're not like many trainers," he replied with a wink.

We continued to talk for an hour until one trainer found his way inside the stadium. I returned to the stands and watched as Craul crushed the kid's predominantly bug-type team. Then I waited the half-hour for the gym to close, and Leader Craul met me in the lobby, looking as if he had just showered.

"If you would indulge me before you leave, I would like you to join me for dinner tonight. My wife is making three whole Magikarp for dinner and I don't think she can eat a whole fish by herself," Craul said with a laugh, and I believed him. I had no doubt in my mind that the giant man could eat ten Magikarp, let alone two, so I agreed and followed him to his house.

Leader Craul's house lay in the northernmost suburbs of Pewter City and was not as ostentatious as the Senator's mansion, though it certainly was not meagre. His land stretched on behind his house for several acres, and the house itself was two stories tall with a driveway that curved in front.

When I walked inside, I smelled the delicious aroma of baking fish, and I heard the delighted cries of Craul's tiny children. He brought them into an Ursaring hug and led me into the den, where a large TV was set up on a wall and plush furniture was arranged. Once Craul was finished hoisting his children and had set them down, he regarded me and started talking.

"So, I'll get to the point," said Craul, growing serious. "I invited you here so that we could talk about something. As you saw today, not many trainers challenge my gym around this time of year, so the League allows me to take a leave of absence. A gym trainer will be taking my place on the off-chance that a trainer does want to challenge, but I hardly believe it will be a problem. So, this is my proposal. You have done some extraordinary things for a first year trainer so far, and some outright heroic things in my geographic area of responsibility. You saved a bunch of kids from freezing in a snowstorm and you returned our Senator's brother from the Meteors. To show my appreciation for your efforts, I will allow you to accompany me on my vacation."

I was dumbfounded. "Leader Craul, thank you so much for the offer… But like I told you at the gym, I need to train for the JIC. I don't have time for a vacation."

"Even if that vacation is training with me and my team?" Leader Craul said humorously.

I was shocked into silence, and Craul laughed loudly. "Yeah, I know. It's an honor, blah blah. So what'll it be, MacAfee? I don't get much time every year to train with my team, and since most trainers have already passed my gym or given up by this point in the season, I have time before the JIC."

"O-of course!" I stuttered.

Craul laughed even louder and slapped me on the back, knocking the wind out of me. "Great! Then I'll have you know that it will not be easy. It will probably be more exhausting than anything you've ever been through," he said.

"Great," I replied. "When are we leaving?"

"We are leaving tomorrow at noon. Meet me here at that time and we will go from there," Craul said with a grin. "Now that that's established, dinner should be ready soon. Make yourself comfortable in the meantime." Then he walked out of the room.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The next day I found myself standing outside of Craul's house, baking in the sun. When Craul emerged from his house, he was holding two packs that I recognized as saddles, and a pokeball. "So, MacAfee, release your dragon," he ordered.

I did so, but with a sense of trepidation that I could not shake. Azrael looked around as Craul released a Fearow, and then he tossed one of the saddles to me. "Uh. Remember how I told you that Azrael still has a bit of training left before I think he can fly with me?"

"Of course I do!" he boomed. "You also told me that you've spent the last month training him. That's enough for me and I do not intend to petition the League for another flying type. Get your ass on him and let's fly!" Craul was wearing a horrible grin and I thought to myself that the smirk would not have looked out of place on a Meteor.

With a gulp, I placed the saddle over Azrael's shoulders – just above his dorsal fin, and I heard a beeping followed by a mechanical whirr. The metal extended over Azrael's lower neck, shoulders and around his arms while the Tauros-hide leather expanded across the same area. Metal wires then extended upwards and around to form a barrier between my back and Azrael's dorsal fin.

"How do these things even work…?" I muttered to myself.

Aoro heard me and said, "Super condensed smart metal that form fits the best area for a person to sit using an inlaid computer program which scans your pokemon. Kinda complicated."

"You're telling me," I said sarcastically. "You sure Azrael's ready for this?" I asked, my nervousness heightening.

"Of course I am, boy! He's a damn dragon; he can carry a little pipsqueak like you no problem! Now get your scared little ass up!" he yelled, growing impatient.

I quickly scrambled up to Azrael's back to avoid provoking Aoro's wrath, and then watched as the leather molded around my legs and lower back. "Well it looks like we're flying today, bud," I said nervously. Azrael only huffed and shook a bit in excitement, so I rolled my eyes and said, "Well I'm happy you're confident. Let's see what you've got."

"Today please, MacAfee!" I heard Craul yell from atop his Fearow. It had already taken into the sky and was hovering in place, waiting for us.

"Alright, let's go Azrael!" I said and grabbed ahold of the two handholds on the side of Azrael's neck. Azrael let out a roar and I felt his body vibrate, passing to me some of his excitement. I felt his body tense and then we shot into the air - not as fast as Glemdrin but faster than I had expected. The Fearow flapped erratically to gain altitude as Azrael and I overtook it and proceeded into the sky. The rush of air against my face, the feel of Azrael's muscles working with little effort, and the sight of his neck snaking forward and cutting the through the air disintegrated any fears I had, leaving me with one of the purest feelings of excitement I had ever felt.

I let go of the handholds and raised my hands in the air, the force of the winds enough to push my arms back. I let out an exhilarated howl, which Azrael gleefully returned as a rumbling roll. I laughed and looked around to see Craul off to the right, leading the way.

"What'd I tell you, kid? You look fine to me!" Craul called out with a grin.

The grin dwarfed in comparison to mine. _Why did I wait so long to try this?_ I asked myself. It was possibly the most exhilarating and liberating feeling I had ever felt. It was just me and Azrael, unbound by the terrain, and only miles of empty air in almost every direction. I reached forward to feel Azrael's scaly neck, and found it hot from the sun's rays. The wind passed over Azrael's slick black scales as if there was no air resistance, and I realized that we could fly much faster.

I leaned forward in preparation to order Azrael to fly as fast as he could, but a loud voice rang out to stop me. "Don't even try it, MacAfee!" Craul boomed. "Fearow are fast, but a Garchomp – even one as young as yours – will lose us quickly. You're following me, remember?"

I sighed, internally pouted, and then promised myself and Azrael that we would try it out the first chance we could get. Azrael was happy to hear it and let out another roar, causing some of the birds below to scatter in different directions. That was when I noticed that we were already far from the borders of Pewter City. I looked behind me and saw Azrael's dorsal fin, with its small notch in the back swaying slightly and his tail hoisted behind him as if he were swimming down a river.

We flew north-ish for two hours, proceeding deep into the Mt. Moon range, until we reached a valley around which was bordered by mountainous walls. A small stream ran through the valley, and large expanses of grass swayed in the wind. Leader Craul pointed and started descending, so I directed Azrael to follow.

The ground came rushing up as we descended, so I reached forward, gripped the handholds, and braced myself. We slowed considerably, but upon landing my teeth chattered as my body was jarred. "…We gotta work on the landings," I said painfully, eliciting a rumbling laugh from Azrael.

"Alright, MacAfee, welcome to base camp!" Leader Craul said enthusiastically. We had landed a hundred feet from the stream next to a string of trees. "We will make camp, and then we start training immediately. It will be easy today because I will mostly be telling ya what we will be doing."

I nodded and unpacked my tent. Remnants of a fire pit lay in the middle of the campsite, and I allowed Azrael to fly around and hunt while we went to work. We finished thirty minutes later, and Azrael arrived with traces of blood on his lips. "Alright, now that we're all set, I think we should take some time to get acquainted. Release your pokemon," Leader Craul ordered.

Craul and I let out our pokemon and stood apart. Leader Craul's pokemon were intimidating; an Aggron, Golem, Kabutops, Poliwrath, Scizor, and Exeggutor stood facing us. Craul's starter, Crusher, stood a few feet taller than him and looked at Azrael intimidatingly. "This is Crusher," Craul said, pointing at his Aggron. "This is Samus," he said, pointing at the six-foot tall spherical Golem. It rumbled and punched its reptilian fists together. "This is Reaper," Craul introduced, pointing at the four-and-a-half-foot-tall, burly Kabutops which brought its scythe-like blades together and sharpened them against each other menacingly.

"This is Brawler," Craul continued, pointing at the five-foot-tall, brawny Poliwrath. Its blue bipedal body rippled with muscle and it pounded its chest in greeting. "This is Dice," Craul said, pointing at the six-and-a-half-foot-tall metal-clad Scizor. It clicked a set of metal mandibles at its jowls and simply stared at us. "And this is Coco," Craul concluded, pointing at the seven-foot-tall tree-like Exeggutor with three egg-like heads. _Hello, _each of them said simultaneously in my mind.

I nodded to the gym leader's pokemon and said, 'This is Azrael, this is Gilles, this is Rufus, this is Ceto, and this is Dante," pointing at the respective pokemon in the process. My pokemon regarded the other team warily until Leader Craul spoke up.

"Alright! Now that we are all here and acquainted with one another, I'll begin. We are here until the tenth. That gives us a little less than a month to whip you all into shape," he said, looking at my team. "This will be the most difficult training experience you've been through, so look forward to having the _opportunity _to improve every day!"

Craul paused and looked at my pokemon, who were all looking at him with curious expressions. "I made it through the Elite 4 because my team knows how to defend. Not only _can_ they take a hit, but they also know _how_ to take a hit. In learning how to take a hit, they learned _where_ to hit an opponent. But as you can see, my team is predominantly physical fighters. I was able to get past the Elite 4 with such a team because defense is not the only important part of our strategy. _Speed_ is also important because it allows them to get in close enough before a ranged opponent can hit them."

To illustrate his point, Craul pointed to a tree standing about one hundred feet away and said, "Even the slowest member of my team can reach an opponent before it can escape. Samus, take out that tree!" The Golem tensed his legs and sprang forward into a roll, impacting the tree in two seconds and toppling it. He then rolled his spherical boulder body back lazily.

"Your pokemon can give a hit, but they need to learn how to take one. That will be the goal of this camp. By the end of this, your pokemon should have a basic, if not intermediate, knowledge of how to take a hit effectively. They should also be much faster. Like I said, this will be tough; you will be rendered unconscious more times than you will remember, and you might even get injured, but I assure you that it won't be a problem. Along with my team, I have two others: my League appropriated Fearow, and my gym's Blissey."

Leader Craul eyed me menacingly and continued. "This goes for _all _of you." He released the Blissey, who stood beside him like a sassy nurse, its pink rotund body leaning to the side. "This is Beatrice, but I just call her Bea. She can heal all but the most debilitating injuries within a couple minutes."

As the realization that I was going to be pounded into the ground throughout the next month dawned on me, my anxiety level spiked. If Craul could notice, he did not show any reaction and instead continued talking. "Today, I introduce you to a little game I like to play called Bludgeon Tag!" All of Craul's pokemon erupted into excited bellowing and spread out.

"The object of this game is simple: tag another player. The twist is that the chasing pokemon is open to attacks. Since your pokemon are new at the game, the rules will be slightly different. When we play, a different pokemon can issue a single attack on the chaser every two seconds, and be exempt from being tagged for four seconds after. The attacks must be physical and the chaser must be hit twice before he tags another. While your pokemon play, however, I will allow an evading pokemon to attack the chaser every four seconds, and have an eight-second sanctuary."

Craul looked at his team and said, "Tone it down on the newcomers. They need to take at least two hits before you force them down." Then he looked to me. "Now, MacAfee, follow me and leave your pokemon here. We will watch the first game. Also, during these games, your Haunter cannot become transparent and your Gallade cannot teleport. This is a game of endurance, toughness, and speed."

I did so and said to my team, "This is where improvement begins. Do your best and follow the rules." They all nodded and spread out. I followed Craul over to a safe distance, and then he raised his hand into the air.

"BEGIN!" bellowed Craul. The pokemon were a blur of movement… at least Craul's pokemon were. Crusher started as the Chaser, and his hulking figure blurred as he chased his teammates at random. During that time, Craul was barking out names. The names he called out were the names of the evading pokemon who needed to step in to attack. "DICE!" Two seconds. "BRAWLER!" Two seconds. "Rufus!"

Rufus surged forward, using his flame charge technique. With his head lowered and his horns poised dangerously, he impacted with Crusher's steel knee-band and was thrown back; he was almost rendered unconscious just from a defensive block. He ran away with wobbly legs as Crusher surged forward and tagged Reaper.

Reaper immediately rushed towards the nearest pokemon, who happened to be Azrael, and Azrael ran away, but Reaper stayed behind him easily. "AZRAEL!" Craul bellowed, and Azrael stopped fleeing to use a bulldoze on his pursuer. Reaper cut through the attack as if it was made of paper and Azrael immediately took off again with an incredulous look on his face. "DANTE!" Craul yelled next, and Dante ran forward, having trouble reaching the chaser. He whipped his right arm-blade forward and Reaper twisted such that the blow glanced off of his hard carapace.

"SAMUS!" yelled Craul, and the large boulder took off towards the rock/water type. Less than a second before Samus hit, Reaper collapsed to the ground with his head aimed at his attacker. Samus hit the Kabutops, but since Reaper was positioned as he was, Samus simply rebounded over top of him and continued rolling away, successfully diverted.

Less than a second later, he head-butted Azrael in the side and caused him to crash to the ground. "Azrael's the chaser now!" yelled Craul. "COCO!" The walking tree rushed to Azrael and kicked him in the side, knocking him over and pissing him off. Azrael immediately rose from the ground and surged towards the Exeggutor, but he could not catch the creature. Four seconds later, Ceto slammed into him, but he shrugged her off and continued chasing Coco.

Four more seconds passed and Dice appeared at Azrael's side, jumped up, and slammed his metal pincer into the side of Azrael's face, knocking him out cold. He collapsed to the ground and slid to a halt. "MacAfee. Return him and release him over here next to Bea. BRAWLER! You're the chaser now. Go! GILLES!"

When I released Azrael beside me, Bea closed her eyes and pressed her hands together. A couple seconds later, the cut next to Azrael's eye stitched back together and he opened his eyes with a groan. "Stay there and watch for the remainder of the game," Craul ordered, and I nodded to Azrael.

The remainder of the game was short-lived… for my pokemon. My pokemon could not hope to catch Craul's when they were deemed the chaser, and never lasted past two attacks from Craul's pokemon. Furthermore, whenever my pokemon moved in for a hit, their attacks were deflected, rebounded back, or simply dispersed onto a heavily-fortified body part.

When all of my pokemon lay beside me, Craul's pokemon sped up the game and he stopped issuing names. "They know the game. As for you all," Craul said to me and my pokemon. "This was to show you something important. Each of you has a body with special defenses. Azrael, those bulbs on the side of your head are nigh-impervious to damage, and the spikes on your arms, legs, and tail can counter an attack."

Then Craul looked to my other pokemon. "Rufus, the bone ridges all over your body can be used to block, as well as your horns. Dante, the edges of your arms are nigh-unbreakable. You can use them to deflect, block, or even counter. Gilles, you have few natural defenses beyond simply becoming formless. Your arms, though, are much harder than the rest of your body. If you take hits, then block with your arms. Finally, Ceto, your body has hard scales and spikes covering it. Your spikes can counter attacks and the crest on your head is hard enough that it can absorb attacks."

He looked to me next and said, "Your job is to keep them practicing with their natural defenses in combat." Then he looked back to my pokemon. "You all have the ability to use your body in a way that allows you take a fraction of the damage that was meant to be inflicted upon you. This is what I will be teaching you." My pokemon nodded resolutely, for they understood the value of what we were learning.

"As for you, MacAfee. Our pokemon have to fight, and therefore we must lead by example. Sparring, cross-country, and obstacles await us." Craul said to me. Then he turned to my pokemon again and said, "Hmm. You know what? I'll make a new rule for your pokemon. If any of you can tag one of mine before you take your required hits, then you pass the role of chaser to them. Just as an added motivation to keep the speed up. For now, that is all. Watch my team and study how they take, deflect, or reflect each other's attacks, and learn."

From there, Craul took me to the side and started directing me through a warmup. After I had worked up a sweat from pushups, jumping jacks, and mountain climbers, Craul brought his arms up and ordered me to attack him. I repeatedly took swings, and he repeatedly blocked them with his forearms in such a way that my wrists and forearms quickly became bruised.

If I slowed, he would start throwing punches, which were devastating in their own right, though I know he toned down his strikes so that he did not simply knock me out. My luck did not hold, for I grew tired after about fifteen minutes of nonstop sparring, whereupon I received a bruise every time I spent more than a second resting, and at which point Craul finally clubbed me in the jaw and knocked me out.

I awoke not long after, with the Blissey pressing a substance onto my gums. I found out later that it was bits of her egg, which was situated in the center of her stomach inside a pouch. The egg was absorbed into my bloodstream through my gums, and my bruises healed. When I sat up, Leader Craul said, "Now you all have felt powerless here, today. Let this set the bar. Do not let yourself fall below this standard, and each day, raise the bar as your skills grow. You do that, and your time here will be a success."

With that, the gym leader ordered me to watch the match as well and to observe how his pokemon utilized their bodies to nullify attacks so that I could understand how to teach my own team. That night I was left with a lot to think about.

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The wind blew through my unkempt hair, allowing it to flood into my eyes, but I dared not brush it aside. All of my muscles were tense and aching, and all I wanted to do was fall limp, but the very thought of such an idea made my breath catch in my throat. The sun was unbearable against my unadorned back, and I knew I would have horrible sunburn after this.

I looked down and saw hundreds of feet of nothing but air between me and the rocky ground and wondered to myself, _Why did I let myself train with Aoro!?_ He was about fifty feet further up the cliff face than I, and neither of us was using a rope. _This is probably the most stupid thing I've ever done!_ I thought despairingly.

"Pick it up, MacAfee! Fearow will catch you, but he'll let you drop for a little ways first!" was the only spurring I needed to keep putting one hand above the other. I had already fallen once and received a peck on the head mid-flight before being carried to a point ten feet below where I had fallen from. Craul was not exaggerating when he said it would be tough. My pokemon were locked in a perpetual game of Bludgeon Tag, which picked up every morning where it left off the previous evening, while I was being driven mad with constant exercise, sparring, tree climbing, sand punching, and defending.

The past week was brutal, but now Craul was forcing me to climb a five-hundred-foot cliff? I did not know where his madness ended, but I felt like we would never reach that conclusion. I felt my muscles spasm and my mind froze with horror at the familiar sign that my body could not hold on any longer. A second later, I was falling. True to Craul's word, it wasn't until I had fallen fifteen feet that I landed with a thud on top of an unappreciative Fearow. I was brought back to my position and I lethargically reattached myself to the wall. At least I had a short rest… while I was falling off the side of a cliff…

Three hours later I pulled myself over the ledge and rolled to my back, heaving with exhaustion. I had only fallen five more times… No more than five minutes passed before Craul pulled me to my feet and brought his arms up. I gave a sigh of despair and started punching.

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_Almost there… C'mon! I can do this!_ Fifty feet separated me from the top of that horrid cliff face where victory awaited. I had not fallen yet and there it was. Leader Craul stood at the top, sternly focusing on my progress. Sweat rolled from my unclothed back, through my torn shorts, and down to my unclad feet. It was two weeks later – the day before the 10th.

_I'll be damned if I can't do this by now!_ I ignored the screaming in my muscles and kept rising. Every three days we had made this climb since that first instance, and Bea had healed me after a day of muscle soreness each time. I had added on a fair bit of muscle weight, given our high-protein, high-calorie diet of meat and pasta of which Craul always had enough, even though I did not remember seeing him bring any. The added muscle mass made the climb easier, but it was horribly difficult nonetheless.

With a heave, I finally pulled myself over the ledge and raised myself to my feet. I put my hands behind my head and allowed precious air to enter my lungs. Almost immediately, I dodged a punch to my nose and brought my hands up. When Leader Craul would punch, I would lean and deflect the blow with my shoulder, or slam my forearm against his wrist to add a little pain to my deflection. Then I would follow up the block with an attack of my own, which he responded to in kind.

The sun had begun to set, leaving us fighting in the twilight. For some reason, as the sun disappeared and the world grew darker, my punches grew stronger and my body felt lighter. But even though my attacks grew stronger and my dodging more agile, Craul matched me and forced me to constantly improve.

The same could be said about my pokemon and their teachers. At night, they were taught how to position their bodies and during the day, they played Bludgeon Tag. At this point, only one of my friends had managed to tag one of Craul's before being hit twice, and that was Rufus. He had managed to use flame charge to hit Coco, though it never happened again after that. Needless to say, he felt very proud of himself, and how could I not feel proud of him as well?

As the last vestiges of light left the clifftop, Craul lowered his hands and bowed to me. I returned the gesture, and he walked over to the edge of the cliff to sit down, motioning for me to do the same. I sat down with my legs hanging over the edge and looked at the dark, clear sky.

"You've done very well here, MacAfee," Craul remarked. "I had hoped that you would be able to scale the cliff without falling, but I never expected it to happen. You've exceeded my expectations, and your pokemon have made much progress as well."

"Thank you, Leader Craul," I replied humbly. "I cannot thank you enough for all you've taught me here."

"You can thank me by winning that tournament. Not only will it reflect my teachings, but it will also show me that my confidence in and judgment of you was well-placed."

I smiled and said, "I don't intend to enter a tournament that I cannot win," to which Craul responded with his familiar booming laugh.

"I like you, MacAfee; you've got spirit. And now maybe you've got the back to bear it." We sat at the edge of the abyss for several minutes in silence until Craul spoke again. "Kanto is troubled… It falls to those of us with the power to hold it together to keep it from falling apart. Just as the first Indigo Champion once said:

'It falls to those few monoliths, without whom humans could not hope to survive, to take up the honorable mantle of service to those, who in their ignorance cannot perceive the precipice we live on – that precipice overlooking oblivion – and to ensure that their ignorance is allowed to persist. For they will not, and cannot, ever know the sacrifice that one must take upon oneself in order to stand as a bastion against the unparalleled might of the pokemon world. And in his stand against the beasts that threaten our existence, the guardian finds himself alone, but content, for he knows the greatness, justness, and solitude of his actions, which set him apart from his fellow man.'

It falls to us to keep the world from descending into oblivion, MacAfee. If you have the will for it, then you put upon yourself a great responsibility and the most worthwhile pledge that anyone can take. By following the first Champion's example, you become the force that allows us to exist in this world. Never stop learning, MacAfee, for our race may yet call on your services."

I was mystified by Leader Craul's words and my mind became set. I was no longer interested in simply becoming stronger for the sake of becoming stronger; I felt a calling in my very soul to take on the mantel of responsibility that the League's gym leaders, Elites, and Champion bear every day.

I looked over to Craul and said with as much gratefulness that I could muster, "I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your wisdom, Leader Craul. I _will _rise to the task."

"Then my efforts as a gym leader will not have been in vain," Craul replied with a sigh. "Good luck at the tournament, MacAfee, and may the Legendaries bring you fortune."

"Thank you, Leader Craul."

As the night wore on, I sat in silence with the Pewter City Gym Leader, and allowed my thoughts to consume my mind with contemplation over my new vocation. It was not until Leader Craul told me to call my Garchomp that my mind returned to reality. Azrael arrived and flew me down to the camp, and we spent our last night huddled together in soreness and contentedness.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"MacAfee, it was a great pleasure to teach you a little of what I know. Please use the knowledge wisely, and do not hesitate to visit on occasion," Craul said as I climbed onto Azrael's saddle. He was recently healed by Bea and looked ready to take on the Elite 4.

"Thank you for everything, Leader Craul," I responded.

"Please, you can call me Aoro. You've earned that right," Aoro said graciously.

I could not help but smile and said, "Thank you, Aoro. For everything."

"It was my pleasure, MacAfee. Good luck tomorrow. And before you go," Aoro said, reaching into his pack and retrieving a disk. "I have a gift for you. This is _Bulk Up_. It will let your pokemon hit harder and take hits easier. Use it well. Also, you can keep the saddle."

With that, I thanked Aoro once more and Azrael roared before he shot into the sky like a cannon. The camp dwindled in size and then disappeared on the horizon as we flew away. As the air blew my hair back, I grinned largely and said, "Azrael, faster!"

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**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

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Author's Note: Well everyone, I hope you liked reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. As always, thank you to those who've commented on the story so far, and I can't wait to hear more!


	17. Chapter 17: The Junior Indigo Conference

Chapter 17

Author's Note: Alright, so as a precursor to this chapter, and since FF will not let me post a web link, the Pokemon League theme is the orchestral Pokemon Red &amp; Blue theme. You can listen to it on youtube by the uploader nohanon90. Enjoy!

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The first vestiges of dawn's illumination were drowned out by the large floodlights in the massive stadium. The roar of the crowd was far louder than any of the gyms in which I had battled while I stood in one of eight lines with a total of 32 trainers. Suddenly, the crowd died down and a marching band started playing the league's theme. Trumpets sounded and cymbals clashed, and I could not help but feel goose bumps cover my body. During the demonstration, an Ace trainer ran a flaming torch to a brazier on a pedestal on the far side of the stadium. The flame was said to be a feather from the legendary Moltres, and it burned nearly brighter than the floodlights above.

The absolutely massive stadium towered above us, and simply looking at the stadium put no doubt in my mind that it could really hold 175,000 people. On the inside of the stadium, tiers of over-arching platforms extended into the sky, and they all hosted large screens where the fight was being projected.

The arena grounds lay at the bottom of a 30-foot wall extending from in front of the bottom seat to the field, and were 500 feet by 500 feet. There were four rectangles of excavated earth which held water, two on each side of the field with dimensions of 75 feet in width, 200 feet in length, and 75 feet in depth, and the two wells of water on each side were connected by a ten-foot-wide channel.

The sheer size of the stadium was marvelous, but not as marvelous as the technology which protected it from seismic activity. Inside the thirty-foot drop separating the stands from the stadium floor were a series of super-conducting magnets in the shape of tiles on the bottom of the stadium, and then on the ground, holding the same charge. The effect was that the stadium was literally floating above the ground, with the only connections being the walkways leading people up into its interior, the ground-level entrance for trainers, and the walls that separated the field from the seating platforms. The walls themselves were made from a strong, elastic metal that can bend with the ground if a powerful earthquake were to be released, but that are strong enough to withstand heavy trauma without breaking.

The stadium was a marvelous example of technology and efficiency by the Indigo League, and was only matched by parallel League stadiums in other countries. Since the stadium was so large, the trainers were actually required to stand on the field with their pokemon so that they could give audible commands, which mimicked a normal trainer battle.

When the theme ended, the President of the Pokemon League, James Dawley, walked out in front of us with a microphone and looked up into the stadium seating. **Welcome to the 2073 Junior Indigo Conference! For the next six days, we will be observing grand spectacles of Indigo's finest rising pokemon trainers. These trainers have come from far and wide to prove that they are best. Put your hands together for your contestants. **

President Dawley then turned to us trainers amidst the staccato of clapping and said, **Congratulations for being extended an invitation to the Junior Indigo Conference! The Junior Conference pits you against the strongest trainers of your caliber, those who have not yet completed the League circuit. Good luck to you all, and may Moltres' fire fuel the spirit of this tournament! The winner will receive 10,000Pb, a special TM, and a personal training session with the Champion himself. The runner-up will receive 5,000Pb and a TM, and the third and fourth semi-finalists will receive 2,500Pb. Let the games begin! **

From there, all but two of the trainers left the field and took to the stands. After the opening ceremony, I watched for a few hours, noting little to be concerned about, and then I left the stadium.

As a trainer, I can say with absolute confidence that I have grown accustomed to adapting to quickly changing scenarios; as an avid observer of the dynamic nature of pokemon battling, I must be able to adjust to an opponent's strategy as soon as it changes, no matter how significantly, if I can hope to defeat him. This is why I was surprised to feel so uncomfortable and uneasy. However, it was also understandable.

Never before had I been in the midst of such a densely-crowded throng of people. I had never considered myself to be claustrophobic, but only having a couple inches of breathing room on all sides, smelling the pungent scent of the surrounding body odor, and not being able to hear myself think left me wishing I was nowhere near the Indigo Plateau. The knowledge of why I found myself traipsing through the concentrated mob kept me from simply flying away; that and the plateau air regulations.

I arrived at the stadium the previous day after needing to teleport in for several reasons. Chief among those reasons was that, even though Azrael could fly at a speed of several miles per minute, he could only keep up that pace for a limited amount of time before he tired out. I did not want him to exhaust himself before the tournament.

When I arrived, I was assigned to a two-bedroom apartment with two beds per room, with three other trainers and the stipulation to refrain from growing comfortable. Those who were defeated in the first round of the tournament would be required to leave. After that, the remaining contestants would be given a room to themselves in the two-bedroom apartments. Furthermore, those who made it past the first round of competition were allowed to stay in the apartments at no cost for the duration of the tournament.

My flat mates were three guys named Stewart, John, and Freddy, and Freddy shared my room. Like me they kept mostly to themselves, and our interactions were held to a minimum; after all, any of us might not be here for the next round. All I knew about their teams is who they chose to accompany them most of the time: John was accompanied by a fierce-looking Raticate, Stewart had a constantly-focused Hitmonchan, and Freddy was followed by a beautiful-looking Vulpix. While in the apartment, I mostly kept Rufus with me.

I found out that my first match would take place on the second day of the tournament, so I left the stadium and waded through the masses of people to find where my parents would be arriving, who had decided to come watch me compete. Being a contestant had its perks; I was allowed one pokemon to accompany me outside of its pokeball while on the plateau. I could sit in the contestants' seating area which started at the front row at midfield on the east side of the stadium, but I did not care about watching the first round of competition, knowing that so many contestants would not be worth studying.

Taking full advantage of the perks, I allowed Dante to walk with me. I chose Dante for a couple reasons: the first was that it was a perfect opportunity for him to train his mind to focus under extreme duress, given the amount of people and their emotions that he could sense. I told him it would only be for today, since I wanted him in peak training condition for each battle. The second was that, with Dante by my side, people gave us a wider berth than normal. However, we had to walk slowly since Dante struggled immensely, though when I thought it might be too much for him to handle and offered to put him in his pokeball, he insisted that I leave him.

I met my parents at the psychic drop off, where new people were being teleported in every second, and led them back to my apartment so that we could enjoy a level of detachment from the crowds. When we arrived, I introduced them to my roommates, and then Freddy retreated into our room while my parents and I sat down on the furniture near Stewart and John.

"Well," I said with a sigh of relief. "We're finally here."

"There are so many people here," my mother said. "It's amazing how you can even find your seat. Are you participating today?" she asked.

"I am not. My first fight is tomorrow; probably in the afternoon," I answered.

"Alright. So how was your training with the gym leader?" she asked.

I had told them of my training under Aoro at its onset, but I had not talked to my roommates much, let alone told them that I was trained by a gym leader. Stewart and John looked up with astonishment and asked me if it was true.

"Yes, it's true," I responded to them. "And it went well," I responded to my mother. "We learned a lot." I kept it vague on purpose because I did not want to reveal to any potential opponent any of my strengths or weaknesses. Rufus sat beside me and my father, who was petting his coarse fur.

"Wow," they said with unreadable expressions, and then went back to paying attention to their own pokemon.

"I'm happy you both came," I said to my parents, changing the subject.

"It was no problem," my father responded. "We wanted to see how you compare to the other trainers out there. Perhaps it might put our minds at ease. How does this tournament work, by the way?" he asked.

I explained that they had missed the opening ceremony, and that the tournament was six days long, with the seventh being reserved for the closing ceremonies. The first round of the tournament, which consisted of 128 pokemon battles, spanned the course of the first two days starting at 6:00 A.M. and ending at 10:00 P.M. with an estimated fifteen minutes per fight. The third day ran with the same time schedule for the second round, the fourth day consisted of the third and fourth rounds, the fifth day held the fifth and sixth rounds with the top 16 and 8 contestants respectively, and the last day held the semifinals and finals. In the first five rounds, three pokemon are used per contestant; in the sixth and seventh round, four pokemon can be used; and in the last round, five pokemon can be used. The pokemon being used in each battle must be registered before the match, and pokemon are considered defeated if they are knocked out, killed, recalled, or if they refuse to fight.

"It sounds intense," My father said. "But before we talk more about the tournament, I also wanted to talk to you about something important for us, like I told you via message."

I leaned back in the sofa and said, "Alright. What is it?"

"Well, your mother and I enjoy the company of the pokemon you have entrusted us with, but I've been thinking that there needs to be a change in expectations. I think the idea of running a fire-breedery is a great idea, but I don't know enough about the Numel or Torchic lines to raise them properly. It would take a long time for me to research them, and by that time, I believe that you would already have given us more to take care of and research. So this is what I've been thinking," he said. He interlocked his fingers under his chin in readiness before he continued.

"I want to focus on one or two breeds; no more. I was thinking that if you came across any of the Ponyta line, you could send them here, since I already know so much about them. They would also keep Blazerunner company. But I was also thinking that the Houndour line might not be a bad idea either, since you already have experience with one. Furthermore, if we were to have Rapidash and Houndoom, and if you ever decide to quit training, or retire, you could help me run the place."

My father was looking at me hopefully and the sentiment was touching. My mother then spoke up. "You are our only son. We want to make sure that our family keeps the fruits of our labor. The breeding business might be something you could continue on for us after we pass on."

The fact that my mother was talking about the subject was shocking enough, because even though she was a part of Fire-Grounds, I had never heard her speak about working with pokemon. It made me realize that my parents were attempting to undertake the business venture together. It made me feel better about their relationship and it drove home the reasonableness of their request.

"Of course. It makes sense. From now on, I will only send Ponyta and Houndour home, if I find them. I can spend some time with Houndour, using Rufus to instill a level of obedience in them before I send them back, and you can tame the Ponyta. I think it works well!" I said light-heartedly.

My parents both smiled and thanked me. At that point, I noticed that Stewart was looking at us. "You are the MacAfee's, aren't you?" he asked. My father nodded and he said, "Wow. My uncle lives in Viridian and he told me all about you guys. He also told me that you," he said, looking at me, "saved a bunch of trainers up in Mt. Moon, including my cousin. Is that true?"

I was slightly amazed to know that he had heard of me, but moreso humbled. "I guess it's true. I'm amazed that you know about us," I said, and my parents reflected the latter sentiment.

"Well my uncle works at one of the Growlithe breeding companies, so he knows about you all. I guess he recognized your name in the news when you saved all of those trainers."

I figured that it was understandable. My father then started talking to Stewart about his uncle's job, so I readjusted my position on the couch to the most comfortable position I could find. It was nice to know that my parents were thinking positively and attempting to make a comeback, and if I had anything to say about it, they would be more successful than ever!

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

That night, dreams of glory filled my head. I dreamt of the thundering roar of the crowds shaking the ground like a mighty earthquake in my honor. My pokemon proudly stood around me and the victorious theme of the Pokemon League was played as a testament to our skill. The dream ended with me being presented with a golden trophy, and then Azrael lifting me into the sky atop his mighty shoulders.

I was roused by an alarm clock in the bed beside mine, and Rufus growled in response. I rolled over to see my alarm clock showing 5:00, Freddy's Vulpix jumping on his chest playfully, and Freddy grumbling half-heartedly at her. "C'mon Phoebe, I _know _we have our battle today. Cut it out. I'm up. I'm up."

I sat up in my bed, eliciting an apology from Freddy for waking me. "Don't worry about it, Freddy. I might as well get up now, anyway. What time is your battle?"

"It's at 6:30; the third match of the day," he responded, starting to dress himself.

"Oh, well good luck," I told him. He thanked me in response and left the room with his excited vulpine pokemon. "Well, Rufus, today's the day. You're going to be on the roster, so be ready." Rufus yipped happily and the temperature of the room rose slightly. I changed into a set of new clothes that I specifically bought for the tournament and left the room to make breakfast, but I had to wait while Freddy used the kitchen.

After a short breakfast in which small talk was made, I left the apartment to watch the tournament. Freddy won his match, and about two hours later, I was surprised to see Chris on the field. He won his match fairly easily and the crowd cheered before he left the field. I found that the announcer only spoke to declare the winner and to beckon in the next set of trainers.

After seeing Chris's battle, I jumped from my seat and ran down to the trainers' entrance to wait for him. He saw me on his way out and gave me a smile. "Hey, Chris! How's it going?" I greeted him. Then I noticed a thin scar running down the right side of his forehead and felt a twinge of pity for him.

He walked over to me with Pierce by his side and said, "Oh, you know; tournament stuff."

"Why didn't you tell me you were invited?" I laughed. "And congrats on the win."

"Thanks. And I don't know, really. I didn't really tell anyone besides my parents," he said, looking a little guilty.

"Huh. Well, where are you staying? I'm in 15C," I asked.

"I'm in 3A," he said. "I don't remember seeing you battle yesterday; when will it be?"

"Around 2:30, so I have a few hours. Tell me what's happened since you left; I heard that you challenged Kay. And how did you get that scar?" I asked, pointing at his forehead.

"Oh, yeah. I didn't do so well against him," Chris said embarrassedly. "I made it to his last pokemon with few injuries amongst my team, but his Gallade just moved through them all. Every time I made significant gains against him, he would just heal his wounds and I would have to start all over again. As for my scar, well...Let's just say you shouldn't startle a Honchkrow's nest."

"Ah. Kay's Gallade gave my team a run for their money as well. And I haven't had any close calls with wild pokemon since we split, fortunately. Though I would hazard to say that training with Aoro might have been just as dangerous," I said, laughing.

"You trained with a gym leader? Wow, leaders don't train people that often. How did you manage to get him to train you?" Chris asked, his mouth agape.

"He actually offered the opportunity to me. He said it was a 'thank you' for my services. But enough about that. How is your team?" I asked. We had reached the trainers' seating area and had sat down, Chris having already recalled his Zoroark.

"They're great!" he replied happily. "We've made a lot of progress together. Shiro evolved into a Blaziken, and I've added a new pokemon to my team. She's a Pidgeotto and her name is Fiona. A few weeks ago I challenged the Nugget Bridge again and won with Pierce and Shiro. After I was given my reward, I was given the invitation to the JIC."

"Oh wow, congratulations. Dante was able to evolve about a month ago, as well. He's now a Gallade."

"Congratulations. It must have been difficult to gain his allegiance," he said.

"Thanks. And let's just say that I hope I never have to do what I did to gain his trust again," I said, feeling sick about the mere thought of the Meteor camp incident.

"I'm guessing I don't want to know," said Chris, leaning back into the chair and training his eyes on the battle raging on below. It was nice to talk to Chris again, and I truly felt happy that most things had worked out for him since we parted, even if some things did not. With good spirits, I talked to him up until the match before mine started, and I left the stands to make my way to the trainers' entrance.

I registered the pokemon I intended to use for the match and walked inside. Since it was the middle of the day and also the second day into the tournament, more people filled the stands than at the opening ceremony. There seemed to be about twice as many people, yet only half of the stadium's seating was filled.

The crowd's roar was deafening as I faced off against my opponent, our stats being displayed above us on enormous screens beside videos of ourselves on the field. Mine said, **Gym Record: 5-0, Nugget Bridge: 2-0** next to my video feed which showed me clad in light, "stylish" jeans, and a white, long-sleeve shirt underneath a black t-shirt upon whose back and front was adorned with a tribal-style pokeball. My opponent's screen said, **Garey; Gym Record: 4-2, Nugget Bridge: 0-2** and his video feed showed him wearing cargo shorts and a blue t-shirt.

At the referee's signal, I released Dante and my opponent released an enormous Onix. At the onset of the battle, the Onix started burrowing, but Dante already had his orders to immediately teleport across the field beside the delving giant, and slam the side of his arm into the Onix's rocky hide. Small cracks spread out in a spider web pattern around the impact site, and the earth serpent disappeared into the ground.

"Move! When it comes up, hit its horn!" I yelled, and Dante started running across the field, covering ground quickly and teleporting every couple seconds. His maneuvers could not be tracked or predicted, and the resulting attack by the Onix was a wide miss. A split second later, Dante teleported right on top of its head and slammed his elbow into the side of the Onix's sensitive horn, cracking it as well.

The Onix seized and collapsed to the ground while Dante refused to let up. He kept slamming his arms and palms into the rock serpent's jagged head until it stopped moving and my opponent recalled it. "Great job, Dante!" I yelled, and he teleported back to my side.

A large humanoid, feline creature appeared on the field next and slammed its yellow fists together with a spark of electricity. The referee signaled for us to start and Dante immediately teleported away while my opponent shouted orders. "Thunder wave until you hit! Then thunder punch!"

When Dante appeared behind the large, electric feline to act, it quickly spun around to face Dante while he slashed it across the side, sending flecks of blood into the air. Before Dante could teleport away, the Electabuzz sent a wave of electricity right into his body which stunned him long enough for the Electabuzz to punch him in the chest with an electrified _crack!_

The force of the punch sent Dante sprawling to the floor, and I yelled, "Get away! Use psycho cut!" Dante teleported fifteen feet away despite the spontaneous seizures of his muscles. The Electabuzz turned swiftly and hurled itself towards Dante, who sliced at the air multiple times with his arm blades. Sharp forces of mental energy sped towards the Electabuzz, and it dodged one before a gouge appeared in its upper chest, and then across its stomach, and then across its face.

After the first trio of psychic cuts, the Electabuzz fell to Dante's onslaught of psychic energy and collapsed. Soon after, the pokemon was recalled and a bipedal fiery pokemon was released. It stood about my height, had a strong tail, scales, and beak, and was on fire in multiple areas. The Magmar eyed Dante dangerously so I recalled him, choosing to take the forfeit of one of my pokemon instead of subjecting his quasi-paralyzed body to a dangerous fire pokemon. Before I did so, I yelled out my thanks to Dante who responded valiantly, _J'Kun, my enemies are defeated._

My opponent looked incredibly nervous since he only had one pokemon left, but his nervousness changed to utter despair when I pointed a pokeball to the pool of water to my left and released Ceto. I smiled darkly because I knew and my opponent knew that this was going to be the end of him. Ceto was in a large body of water, which meant that she did not have to draw upon her own reserves of water, and her opponent was a pure fire type. All Ceto had to do was go underwater to avoid the fire - not that the fire would do much to her anyway - and snipe her foe.

The other trainer knew it as well, but kept his Magmar in play with a command to create a smokescreen. _So he wants to draw this out in the hopes of winning. Ha!_ "Ceto, hydro pump then dive, and repeat!" I ordered.

The other trainer heard me and started frantically yelling orders to dodge. The first bolt of highly pressurized water flew through the smokescreen and left the back of the cloud. A large glob of black sludge, which I recognized as a toxic attack that Gilles can use, flew back out of the fog and landed in the water, darkening it and spreading out.

I realized the tactic; he was going to poison the water and try to win over time. Unfortunately for the Magmar, it did not dodge the second pressurized jet of water that flew into the smoke. The second hydro pump entered the smokescreen but did not emerge from the back. I heard a crunch and a pained roar before a thud, and then my opponent recalled his pokemon amidst cheers from the crowd.

The announcer declared me the winner and the referee ordered me to return Ceto and leave. I did so, watching a team of Quagsire shuffle over to the pool of contaminated water and start rapidly purifying it before the next battle could begin.

I left the field and used the on-site medical facility to patch up Dante before I walked back into the stands to find Chris with a look of wonder on his face. "Your Gallade was amazing!" he hooted. "That Onix was a beast and he took it out with no problem! It reminded me of Kay's Gallade."

I laughed and said, "Yeah, Dante has really improved. Thanks. If he is as good as Kay's Gallade, then I must have done something right!"

"Well, it certainly knows how to fight. That was great!" he exclaimed, and in that moment, I saw the wonder-filled Chris that originally joined Sheila and I so many months ago. It filled me with nostalgia to think about how much we had changed since then.

"Well, round one down, seven to go!" I said triumphantly, and Chris agreed with a grin.

We watched the match and then I searched the stadium for my parents' seats, eventually finding them with welcoming smiles. As they congratulated me on my success, the spectators around us took notice and started offering me their congratulations as well.

The consensus was that Dante was awesome and Ceto was incredibly strong, and it took almost ten minutes for the hype around us to die down enough for me to talk to my parents. "That was impressive," my father said. "Keep that up and you'll make it to the finals. I'll keep an eye on some of the more talented trainers as the tournament progresses so that you know what you're up against."

"Thank you!" I responded fervently. It may have been lazy and selfish of me, but I did not have much interest in watching the many subpar trainers compete. Having someone in my corner, so to say, and evaluating my competition would make this much easier on me. "That would be so helpful!"

As we spoke, the crowd ooh'ed. I looked at a large screen to see a fully grown Charizard take the field. I could tell it was mature by the darkness of its scales, the development of its muscles, and the seemingly ancientness of its eyes and scars. It came off as interesting and suspicious to me that a young trainer was its master.

My suspicions were vindicated when I noticed the slightest twinge of hesitation and annoyance by the Charizard towards its trainer before it began to fight. It faced off against a Wartortle, a durable and vicious turtle-like pokemon with powerful water capabilities. The dragon's subtle insolence did not stop it from releasing its wrath upon its foe when the Wartortle sprayed it with water.

I watched with morbid curiosity as the Charizard leapt from the ground, spreading its large wings, and swooped toward the turtle. It grabbed the Wartortle and flew up into the sky, gnawing on its shell. Those in the Squirtle line have extremely robust shell strength, so it was no surprise to me that the trainer did not recall the Wartortle during this. What was surprising was the power behind the Charizard's bite.

The video feed tracked the Charizard and displayed it breaking completely through the shell. Another screen showed its trainer looking up with fright and desperately attempting to aim his pokeball at the small target, but to no avail. The noise of the crowd changed from astonishment to horror as the Charizard tore the turtle apart and swallowed the pieces in mid-air.

With a look lacking amusement, the Charizard returned to the ground and waited for his next opponent in boredom. The opposing trainer managed to keep the rest of his team from being killed, but he did not last long after that. "Hmm. I don't think that dragon is that trainer's pokemon," I said to my father. "A dragon of that age and strength would not simply give disrespectful gestures to its trainer. I half-expected it to eat him. Either the trainer is holding something significantly compelling over that Charizard, or it was given to him by someone who demanded it be subservient to him. You can see that it does not respect him if you look closely enough."

"Regardless of where its loyalties lie, it will still destroy its opponents. Be careful if you fight him; that Charizard is dangerous," my father said wisely.

"So is Azrael," I muttered. He may not be anywhere near the age of that Charizard, but Azrael was not to be trifled with. If I had to be the one to beat that trainer, Azrael would not fail me.

Later that night, I found out that all of my roommates had proceeded to the next round and would be assigned housing arrangements which were to be adhered to the following day. Freddy and I were being transferred to different apartments, while Stewart and John were keeping our current residence. Knowing that I was being transferred, I made sure that all of my belongings were packed before I went to sleep.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

_Horrible, pained shrieks sounded across the cavern wall as Raeda was torn to shreds by a monstrous Charizard. They did not stop as the dragon swallowed her. It then looked at me with hungry, red eyes and changed shape into Nicole._

_Raeda's wailing was then accompanied by Nicole's baritone laughing that completely belied her feminine vocal capability. She took several steps toward me with outstretched hands, and I realized that I was tied up in the prison cell and incapable of escaping. "Gilles!" I screamed, but there was no answer. _

_Nicole continued towards me, laughing horribly, and grabbed my upheld wrists while looking into my eyes with her glowing blood-red eyes. _Nicole's touch was searing and despite the fact that I was dreaming, I could actually feel the pain_. Nicole's shape transformed once again into the form of Prescott. He looked at me hatefully and raised a clawed hand._

Snarling and a paw to the face woke me up. Once again I was drenched in sweat, but unlike the incidents before, Rufus was furiously snarling in every direction. "What the fuck!? What's going on?" I heard Freddy yell from his bed. His Vulpix was standing between him and Rufus, and was baring her teeth at the Houndoom.

"I-I don't know," I stuttered. "Rufus, calm down!" I demanded. Rufus eased slightly, but climbed on my bed and sat down with his teeth bared. "It was just a nightmare, Rufus. What's gotten into you?"

Soon after, I saw the lights under our door turn on and the door was opened. Stewart's Hitmonchan stood fiercely in the doorway in front of his trainer. Both Freddy and I were sitting up and Rufus had not stopped baring his teeth. "What's going on in here?" Stewart asked.

"His Houndoom woke me up growling at nothing!" Freddy answered angrily.

I put my hand on Rufus's shoulders to calm him further, and noticed a burned pattern on my wrist. Rufus responded by lowering his lip with a whimper and then falling silent. "Something spooked him," I said. "Don't worry; he wouldn't attack anyone without my command."

"That's comforting," Freddy said sarcastically. "Please keep him quiet. We _all_ have battles tomorrow."

Stewart's Hitmonchan relaxed in the doorway and walked off, and his trainer said, "What he said," before following after.

I was slightly annoyed at my grumpy roommates, but I focused instead on the burns on my wrists. They were still tender and I looked around the room for anything out of the ordinary. Finding nothing, I scratched Rufus's back and lay back down to sleep, anxiously.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Freddy's alarm clock roused me again from my slumber at 5:00. I did not have to move out for another hour and my match was not until later in the day, so I tried to go back to sleep.

"What the-!" I heard Freddy exclaim. "Really, dude? Do you think this is funny?"

Confounded, I sat up to see Freddy glaring at me. Rufus had sat up as well, and was baring his teeth at Freddy in my defense. I looked behind him to see that his dresser mirror was shattered and the pieces all lay on the ground. I looked to mine and saw the same thing. "Um. I didn't do that," I said, confused.

"Sure. And I suppose Stewart or John did it then?" Freddy asked angrily. "I'm not paying for the broken mirrors, and I'm not cleaning it up."

"Whatever," I said, annoyed at him. Then I lay back down, facing away from him and tried to go back to sleep.

By the time he had packed his bags and left, I still had not been able to fall asleep, so I got out of bed and observed the room. Broken glass lay everywhere. I looked at Rufus and asked, "Did you do this?" He simply shook his head with a whimper. Of course I did not think he broke the mirrors. He would have woken me or Freddy in the process.

With a sigh, I dressed and went to work sweeping up the shards. I hoped it would not be too expensive; after all, they were only small mirrors. I left the room with my belongings and Rufus to see John sitting on a sofa with a mug of coffee on the table. "Sorry about last night," I said before walking out of the door.

Rufus tailed me as I made my way to another apartment building where I was assigned. When I arrived, no one answered the door and no belongings were inside. It appeared that everyone had already moved out, so I claimed a room and unpacked. Half an hour later, Rufus's ears perked up and I heard the door handle rattle. Soon after, a familiar face walked in.

Keith saw me and a smile spread over his face. "Well, what do you know? It's the guy who ended my streak at the Nugget Bridge."

I walked over to him and shook his hand. "Small world," I replied.

"No kidding." From behind Keith slunk a Luxray, and I froze up in fear while Rufus's hair stood up. The Luxray was not as large as the one which had given me my scar, standing four-feet tall, but it nonetheless induced fear from me.

"Whoa! Relax! It's just Luke!" Keith interjected. He then recalled the lion and I unfroze with a gulp of air.

"Sorry…" I said. "He just surprised me. That's all." Rufus calmed down as well and nuzzled my arm.

"I've never seen anyone react like that to Luke…" Keith ruminated. "What's up?"

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously and shrugged. Then I pointed at the scars on my face. "O-oh shit. I see. Damn, that must have been crazy," Keith stuttered. "Sorry 'bout that."

"No, you don't have to apologize," I reassured him. "You couldn't possibly have known and you did not use him at the bridge, so I didn't know you had him."

"If you say so. I chose not to use him because my other pokemon wanted a crack at it. Well, I'd like to have him out with me, if that wouldn't be too much to ask," Keith said. "I mean, you're probably going to see other Luxray eventually, right? And at least this would be under a banner of peace."

"I guess," I sighed, and Keith released Luke again. Luke appeared sitting on the ground and yawned, annoyed.

"Luke, be nice. There's a reason he isn't comfortable around you. Remember me and Thane?" Luke nodded in understanding and walked into the living room, where he climbed onto a sofa and curled up. "Eh, he acts like a little Skitty so you don't have to worry about him," said Keith with a laugh, resulting in an annoyed hiss from the Luxray.

I still shuddered in remembrance, but having the non-threatening Luxray around might actually be good for my mental health, I finally agreed. "I guess I could get used to him," I said hesitantly.

"Good!" Keith said enthusiastically, and then he moved into the living room. "Well, if we're going to be rooming together, I'd like to set some ground rules. 1: Keep out of my shit; I don't share. 2: Don't bitch about cat fur; Luke can't help it. 3: If you cook, wash your dishes so that I don't have to; I'll do the same. And 4: Drink the right kind of beer; I won't be associated with someone who likes cheap crap. Got it?"

I nodded with a small smile and sat down across the room from the Luxray who eyed me curiously. Rufus curled up beside me and watched the Luxray through wary eyes while I turned on the television with a remote. I switched it to the tournament coverage and set the remote down, preferring the cool temperature and silence of my apartment to the contrary characteristics of the stadium. I relaxed until it was time to leave for my second-round match.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Once again, I found myself standing in front of another trainer. His stats flashed on the screen above me, **Gym Record: 5-3**. Once again, I had three registered pokemon in my lineup, which held both Ceto and Dante for the sake of keeping the majority of my team hidden. I knew that these matches were recorded and I wanted to keep as many of my pokemon out of the spotlight for analysis.

I released Ceto in a pool to start, and to my delight, my opponent released a bipedal, brown pokemon with a tail, a solid bone helmet encompassing its head which only had holes for its eyes, and which held a bone club. I knew that Marowak were ground-type, which meant that Ceto would be exceptionally effective.

I yelled, "Agility, focus energy, agility, and surf," while the Marowak threw the bone club harshly. The bone spun through the air and hit Ceto in the side of the head, shaking her slightly, and upon its boomerang-like return, it hit air. Ceto had heightened her reflexes and speed and was now underwater, focusing her energy.

That did not stop the creature from jabbing its fist forward, which created a small forceful impact underwater on Ceto. I recognized it as a fighting move that hits at a distance, and Ceto revved her body's reflexes up a second time, doubling the effect. She moved to the surface of the water extremely fast whereupon she narrowly avoided a beam of ice and brought a fifteen-foot tidal wave over her head, which she sent crashing onto the field. While the Marowak was desperately trying to dodge, I was shouting more orders.

The Marowak jumped clear over the bulk of the wave, landing with a splash, and was then caught with a stream of water directly to the face, knocking it over. It rolled back and flipped up to its feet acrobatically, and I amusedly commended it for its durability; not many type-disadvantaged pokemon could take a hit from Ceto.

As the Marowak rolled to its feet, a large icicle lodged itself into the pokemon's thigh and froze the surrounding area. Ceto had followed up with an ice beam, which was also effective against Marowak. It went down to a knee and caught one last water gun to the chest before falling unconscious.

My opponent released a Jolteon next, its yellow, static fur standing on edge. Before the lightning fast pokemon could even act, a powerful scald in the form of a water gun hit it broadside. The burning water impacted the Jolteon and sent it stumbling back before it sped off around the field.

Ceto was still focused and fast from the previous fight, and started sending a barrage of water guns at the electric pokemon, not letting up. Ceto was so fast with her attacks that the ridiculously quick electric pokemon could not stop to issue an attack at her. Every time the electric fox tried, it quickly moved away as a pressurized blast of water hit where it had stopped.

Ceto showed no signs of stopping, and neither did the Jolteon. One of us would crack, and my opponent was already one pokemon down, so I yelled, "As soon as it tries to take a hit, hydro pump!" My opponent was only focusing on his own pokemon instead of me, so he did not hear me. The resulting situation was bad for both sides. He ordered his Jolteon to take a hit and zap the water with thunder, one of the most powerful electric techniques.

Using thunder was powerful, but inaccurate. However, the Jolteon was aiming for the pool, a very large target. The Jolteon stopped to release a hair-raising current of electricity into the water, right as a large, powerful torrent of water slammed into its chest. The water around Ceto crackled and Ceto seized with a squeal as the powerful electric current ran through her. At the same time, the Jolteon was thrown back and lay motionless on the ground.

By the time the Jolteon was recalled, Ceto was struggling to remain above water, so I returned her as well. I let out Dante and watched as his opponent was revealed. A Scyther materialized in front of him and my breath caught in my throat. A Scyther's bug type was effective against Dante's psychic type, and its flying type was effective against Dante's fighting type, making it Dante's foil. I steeled my nerves and confidently shouted orders. Type disadvantage was not a death sentence; it was only a challenge, as Ceto had shown.

The Scyther and Dante were both blurs of motion. The Scyther split into four images while Dante erected a physical damage-reducing barrier. The Scyther then started moving quicker, much like Ceto had while Dante sent out a wave of static, intent on paralyzing the Scyther. Unfortunately, the real Scyther moved away. It was obvious considering the two images caught in the wave of static were completely unaffected.

The Scyther then charged Dante from every side, but Dante knew which images were originally not affected and focused another static wave in the path of the other two Scyther. The wave hit, causing them all to scream out in unison, but they all continued forwards quickly. The real Scyther raised its scythes like an X and slashed.

The sound of metal against metal was heard as Dante caught the attack along his arm blade, completely nullifying the attack. I rejoiced inwardly, knowing that he would not have been able to perform such a block without Aoro's training. Quickly after, Dante followed up with a solid slash across the bug's carapace, rupturing it.

The bug lethargically flew away in an attempt to merge with its images and split again, but not before Dante sent a bolt of thunder into its back. It stumbled forward in pain and merged with all of its images. At that second, Dante appeared next to it and brought his blades across the Scyther while all of its images were merged. Another horrible rend was created, and it collapsed beneath Dante's feet.

The cheers intensified as Dante looked up, raised his arms, and retracted his blades dramatically. He then teleported to my side and dipped his head. _J'Kun, my enemies are defeated. _I patted him on the shoulder and returned him as my victory was announced, and then I left the field.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"So you won your match too, then? I wouldn't expect any less. We're both progressing to the third round," said a happy Keith. He noticed that I was sitting next to Chris, who had also won his second match and asked, "Hey, aren't you that kid who was with him at the Nugget Bridge?" After Chris nodded, Keith sat down beside us with a laugh. "Well it looks like the gang's back together, then."

I shook my head and allowed Keith to barrage us with his enthusiastic banter until I decided to leave for dinner. My parents wanted to cook me a meal at my apartment, and I was growing tired of sitting in bleachers all day, even if they had somewhat cushioned seats.

I found my parents and left amidst cheers of praise from the surrounding spectators. Two hours later, with a belly full of Magikarp and Oddish sprouts, I was sitting on the couches with my parents, all of us watching the games, when Keith entered with four girls and two six-packs of beer.

My parents bewilderedly looked at him and then to me, to which I shrugged and introduced them to Keith. Keith quickly nodded and apologized for any intrusion, but my parents laughed and simply left the apartment, not wanting to deal with it.

"Sorry for scaring your parents away, bud," he said half-heartedly. "Now we've got more energetic company." He smiled, sat down on a couch, and popped the top off of some obscure Indigo Pale Ale (IPA beer). Two girls sat down beside him, and the other two approached my couch. One sat down on my left and the other stopped in front of Rufus, who growled a warning at her. Sincerely frightened by my hell hound, the girl went back over to Keith's sofa and sat down on the arm of the couch.

Keith then introduced the girls, "This is Mindy, Jane, Renny, and Klara." Then he looked to the girls around him and said, "This, ladies, is my esteemed roommate and a fellow 64th."

"Oh, I recognize you," the girl called Mindy said. "You're the one with that scary bladed pokemon."

"Yeah, me too," said the girl seated next to me named Klara. "That Gallade is frightening."

I nodded and I felt my cheeks burning. "Could we see the Gallade?" the girl named Renny asked.

"I'd rather not," I said nervously. "He's resting."

"Oh please? What about another of your pokemon?" Klara said.

"I'm fine with Rufus here right now," I said exasperatedly. "Actually, I'm feeling a bit tired, so I'm going to call it a night early," I said, feigning exhaustion. Then I stood up and headed to my room, Rufus pattering beside me.

"Oh, come on now. Where are you going?" interjected Keith. "We were just getting introduced."

"I'm going to get an early start for tomorrow," I told him.

"At least have a beer," Keith urged.

"I'm fine with water for now," I said. "I'll drink after the tournament is over." Then I walked into my room and shut the door. Rufus jumped up onto the bed and curled up at its foot. As I took my shoes off, the door opened and Keith walked in.

"Hey, man. I'm sorry if I bothered you. I can go somewhere else until later if you want," Keith apologized.

"It's no big deal. You don't have to leave. I'm just tired and I don't want to deal with anyone for now," I said. "It's nothing personal."

"Alright. So we're good, then?" he asked. I nodded and then he left. Before I shut off the lights, I heard his muffled voice through the door say, "He's fine. He may seem strange, but he beat me before which means he's not a pushover. He's just not good with girls." Giggling followed and I tuned them out.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I woke up with a cold sweat once again as Rufus growled into the night. I looked at my clock to see the time at 3:49 and put my hand on his shoulder. "What is up with this place, Rufus?" I asked, turning on the bed-side light and looking around. I found nothing and fell to my back, leaving the light on as I slept.

A few hours later, my alarm clock woke me and I dressed myself before heading to the stadium. Luke was lying on a couch and Keith's door was open enough for me to see him sprawled out on his bed. I was relieved to find the girls absent, and I cooked some eggs. When I finished, Keith had dragged himself into the kitchen and was drinking a sports drink. I left and waited at the stadium for my next match, which took place at around 10:00 A.M.

My next match against a trainer with a gym record of 5-3 and a nugget bridge record of 1-1 ended similarly to my first two. I led with Ceto, who managed to beat a Raichu while becoming paralyzed in the process. She then almost beat a Venusaur, whom she shot with an ice beam, but she succumbed to its razor leaves and vine whips, marking my first pokemon to have been knocked out in the tournament. Dante easily finished off the weakened Venusaur and then went on to defeat a violent Primeape. He ended the battle by saying to me, _J'Kun, my enemies are defeated._

I had managed to keep most of my team hidden from my opponents up to that point, and now that I was part of the top 32 trainers, analyzing my opponents' teams before-hand became very important. I met with my parents, who congratulated me, and watched the battle whose winner would face me.

The fourth round took place in the afternoon, and before long I found myself standing off against an opponent with a gym record of 6-3 and a nugget bridge record of 1-0. I led with Dante, who managed to defeat a monstrous Gyarados by paralyzing it and then teleporting around and sending a barrage of thunderbolts. In the process, Dante was hurt multiple times by scalding water, but his healing pulses worked wonders on his injuries.

A Houndoom was Dante's next foe, and he was able to get in close and defeat the dark hound with a cluster of fighting moves while sustaining potent poisoning and a few other minor injuries. Dante's last foe was the poison type Muk, whom he defeated easily with multiple psychic attacks. Despite the fact that we were so far in the tournament, Dante was able to win all of his battles by playing to his strengths and to the weaknesses of his opponents, as well as by knowing how to take physical hits from his opponents. _J'Kun, my enemies are defeated._

On my way out of the stadium, after I had healed Dante, I was met by a loud yell. Running from the seating entrance was a face that made my heart leap and a smile spread across my face. Sheila came running towards me and gave me a great big hug, which I returned. After what felt like several minutes, I released my grip and looked at her face.

"You're here!" I said happily.

"Yep! I'm here," she replied. "And I saw your last match. I must say it was amazing. Dante has really changed since I saw him last."

"Yeah, he has," I said with a laugh. "And what about you? How did you do at the JEGC? It's over now, isn't it?"

I then noticed that Sheila was a bit paler than I remembered and her eyes seemed a bit puffy. I also noticed that she was wearing the pokeball necklace that I had given her. "I made top eight, and then I waited a day before I headed out. Enough about that, though. You're now top 16. Who's your next opponent?" I shrugged and beckoned for her to follow.

I walked with Sheila to where the tournament brackets were displayed, which had been filled in as the tournament progressed. On the list I saw that Chris and Keith had both made it to the top 16 trainers and that my next match on the following day was against a kid named Jeremy. I recognized the name and a frown stretched across my face.

"I don't like that look. Do you know him?" Sheila asked.

"Yeah. He has a fairly old Charizard that's been wiping the floor with all of his opponents," I said.

"Well then it's time for that to end, don't you think?" Sheila asked, the obviousness in her tone streaked with cheerfulness. I could not help but be affected by her mood, cheering up. "So what do you say we go get a bite to eat? I'm starving."

I nodded and we left the stadium. I told my parents via a message that I would be having dinner in a little bit, and they told me they would meet me at my apartment.

An hour later, Sheila was helping my mother make dinner. I had recalled Rufus and let Dante relax in the living room, and upon seeing him, Sheila could not stop herself from gushing over him. Afterwards, Sheila's face took on a mischievous grin and she released Shade. I knew that it was against the rules for non-participants to have pokemon out on the Plateau, but I did not think she was hurting anyone or anything.

Instead of being standoffish and distant, Shade eyed Dante curiously and interacted with him. I had no idea what was going on, but Dante was seated upon the floor cross-legged and Shade was floating beside him, reserved and proper. The only hint I had from them was the occasional blue glow from Shade's eyes or green glow from Dante's.

Over dinner, I asked Sheila how her stay in Hoenn had been and I was greeted by a long conversation about the instability of the country. I did not remember every history lesson from high school, but I knew enough to understand that Indigo was not the only region with problems.

For example, the Half-Century War took place between Kalos and Unova. During that war, there was a constant stalemate that took place in the several hundred miles between them, the effects still lasting until today. Johto and Kanto have been tense, but have always seemed to work out their differences diplomatically. Sinnoh had always been hungry for more land to call its own, and had in the past two centuries claimed territory on the mainland's east coast. Lastly, Hoenn had been a source of racial and cultural elitism for the past few centuries.

Wars had been waged, and ultimately lost, in the name of cultural supremacy by Hoenn against Johto and Unova, but Kanto has always come to the aid of Johto, and Unova has been militarily strong enough to ward off an outside attack. Somehow, the Sevii Islands have managed to remain aloof from the regional chaos for the most part, given their weak government and lack of threatening ambitions.

From what Sheila told me, the Hoenn government is much different than Kanto's government. For example, in Kanto the gym leaders, Elite 4, Champion, and League President have some political power, but the power ultimately rests in the hands of the parliament. In Hoenn, the gym leaders, Elite 4, and Champion are the country's political officers. The gym leaders are representatives and law-makers of their cities and surrounding areas, the Elite 4 are national law-makers, and the Champion is the President.

Sheila's father, being a gym leader, is privy to a lot of political information. Sheila told us that he had told her that there had been invasions by Hoenn into the Sevii Islands and the justification of the incursions had been that the lawless tribesmen needed the dynamic, liberating, and structuring hand of the Hoenn people to bring them out of the primitive existence in which they have survived.

This was deeply troubling because if Hoenn gained more geographic strength and power, it might try to re-launch its cultural conquest against Johto, which would most likely drag Kanto into a war; a war that Kanto did not need, considering its current Meteor plague.

It was a long conversation that was only interrupted by Keith entering the apartment with another harem of girls. My parents shook their heads and bid me goodnight, taking Keith's entrance as their cue to leave. Sheila only stared at the newcomers with curiosity as I introduced Keith to her.

Keith was very interested in Sheila initially, but lost interest for some reason once he saw the Gardevoir eyeing him menacingly. Sheila quickly recalled her and I did the same with Dante. It was now dark outside, and the fifth round would begin at 10:00 the next day, but instead of sleeping, I talked to Sheila in my room for another couple of hours before she left.

During that time, I learned that Sheila was traveling with some high school friends (mostly girls) and had beaten the fifth gym in Hoenn before she returned home and received training from her father for the JEGC. I told her of my own experience with Aoro, but I did not mention the Meteor incident.

After she left, I fell asleep and once again found myself gasping for air in the middle of the night. The nightmares had grown steadily worse, and Rufus was always there to protect me from whatever he thought was endangering me in my room. Each time, I found it more difficult to go back to bed, and sometimes I would lay still for half-an-hour to an hour just trying to fall asleep before slumber would finally find me again. It was a growing problem that I had hoped would go away soon.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

My boots ground against the sand nervously as I faced the smug kid named Jeremy. His stats read, **Gym Record: 6-0, Nugget Bridge: 3-0, Cinnabar Relay Finisher. **With a twist of my wrist, I released Dante, who bowed his head to me. "This fight is not going to be easy, Dante," I had told him beforehand. "When he releases his Charizard, do not let it pick you up. Use electricity and slice at its wings. Until then, if he follows the same pattern as always, he will send out a weak starter. Beat it after taking time to beef up by using double-team, barriers, and swords dance."

Dante stood ready as my opponent sent out a Sneasel. The trainer was cocky. He probably thought that he could give his weaker pokemon experience before the Charizard cleaned up. To start, Dante erected both kinds of barriers around him while staying far away from the Sneasel. Then his blades' edges sharpened and hardened with a swords dance and he teleported away from the Sneasel. Finally, Dante's form split into four different images, and he moved in for a one-hit knockout.

When the Sneasel lay unmoving on the floor, I steeled myself for the expected subsequent battler. I was not disappointed. The Charizard stood ten feet tall and looked down upon the images of Dante with little interest. After a few reprimanding commands, the Charizard looked down at one of the images of Dante and blew a "small" ember at it. The fire was hot enough to warm my cheeks from thirty feet away as the image of Dante disappeared and reappeared twenty feet away.

The Charizard looked more annoyed than anything, but that changed in an instant when Dante appeared next to it, leapt into the air, and brought a bladed arm slamming into its face and chipping a scale. Immediately after, Dante teleported away and the Charizard roared in anger. The battle was on!

I yelled out orders as the Gallade appeared on multiple sides of the Charizard to hit from an unprotected angle. The Charizard would swipe and take out an image, only to become further enraged. As it unfurled its wings, Dante appeared to the side and slashed down into the wing's joint with a thud, disappearing just in time to miss a stream of fire. In that moment, the Charizard leapt into the sky. On its way up, Dante sent a few psychic blades at it, but it simply took the hits with its tail.

While on the ground, Dante split into more images and sent thunder bolts into the sky, occasionally hitting the dragon. All the while, he was dodging streams of fire that poured over the earth in an unbroken and unending flood. When all of Dante's images were destroyed, the Charizard began shooting fireballs into the field, forcing both me and its trainer to retreat further. The balls of fire exploded upon impact and showered the arena with intense heat waves.

I could see Dante's health draining and he could not stop long enough to heal himself psychically for fear of being directly hit by one of those deathly fire explosions. He was quick enough to launch an occasional thunderbolt, but when the dragon decided that the fireballs were not working fast enough, it started launching powerful blasts of draconic energy. Like firing a water pulse, firing a dragon pulse launched a particular type of energy at an opponent. But unlike water pulse, the dragon pulse looked more like a beam when concentrated and hit its target like the force of hammer against a nail.

Each dragon pulse left a crater in the ground almost a foot deep and eight feet wide, almost blowing me off my feet with the shock wave even from the distance I stood. Finally, after a solid five minutes of consecutive teleportation, Dante grew too weak to use his ability effectively, and was not able to teleport far enough from the impact zone of a dragon pulse. He was thrown to the side and knocked out, but before the Charizard could descend and finish him, I had returned him to his pokeball.

_Well, the dragon knows we mean business now._ I thought as I hefted my Greatball. Azrael appeared with a roar and the crowd fell silent in awe before their thunder returned exponentially louder. "Azrael! Do what we've practiced over the last month and rush him! Take out his wings!" I yelled.

Azrael looked up at his opponent and let lose another roar before shooting into the air at break-neck speed. He closed the gap in unparalleled time, due to the effect of the powerful dragon rush technique, but as he climbed, he was hit by a crushing dragon pulse. Azrael's entire body glowed and he continued through the attack, and his body collided with the Charizard in a loud and terrifying crash. The force of the impact sent both of the dragons hurtling through the air uncontrollably, biting, clawing, and slamming each other with their tails.

Eventually, the Charizard used both of its back feet to push off of the Garchomp, and then it breathed bluish flame into the sky. The flames condensed into an orb, smaller than my memory of Glemdrin's, and then the orb surged towards Azrael. Azrael caught some air with his wings and twisted just in time to allow the orb to pass between his limbs, but the energy seared the scales on his chest and the detonation on the ground blew me off my feet.

I quickly stood up and saw Jeremy doing the same, looking serious for once instead of smug. I looked back up at the fight and saw Azrael reach the Charizard once again with a mighty dragon rush. When he collided with the fire drake once again, Azrael slashed at its wings, provoking the Charizard to blast him in the face with fire amidst pained roars.

The dragons fell from the sky, the Charizard not being able to keep itself in the air and Azrael latched on. As the dragons reached twenty feet from the ground, the Charizard twisted its body around such that it was on top of Azrael. The ground shook as the Charizard impacted the ground on top of Azrael's body, and I was once again thrown to my back. I scrambled to get up while yelling at Azrael to dig and readying his pokeball to recall him.

The dust and dirt that had been kicked up suddenly started moving in a swirling pattern around the dragons, and I realized with relief that Azrael had not been defeated. I saw waves of earth come crashing from the sandstorm's center and end up in the pools of water. The inside of the storm was bright and hot from the Charizard's flames, and the ground trembled from a strong earthquake.

All of a sudden, a ball of blue energy rose above the storm and dropped straight down into the eye of the sandy vortex with a mighty explosion. The shock wave blasted me off my feet yet again and sent me rolling back several more feet. When I arose, covered in dirt and bruised, the sandstorm had disappeared and both dragons were lying on the ground, scorched. After a few seconds, the Charizard twitched and pulled itself up while Azrael remained on the ground.

With a weakened, but still mighty roar, the Charizard stood victorious over his enemy and I recalled Azrael with a sigh. The spectators roared once again and I dug the tip of my boot into the ground with nervousness. I released Ceto into a pool of water and yelled, "This is it Ceto! He took out Dante and Azrael! It's up to you to finish it! Hydro pump and surf!"

The Charizard was too weak to fly, but it twisted to the side as the pressurized water streamed at him. It missed and was followed up by a large wave, which hit the Charizard but did not move him. The dragon looked at Ceto, steaming with hate, and prepared another draco meteor. "DIVE!" I yelled, and Ceto disappeared underneath the water. A second later, the top of the water exploded.

When the dust cleared, Ceto appeared at the surface of the water and sent another hydro pump at the Charizard, who was too tired to dodge a second time, and hit the fire drake right in the chest. It stood defiantly and as it prepared another meteor, but it was hit once again in the head with a pressurized hydro pump. The force knocked it off its feet and it lay in the dirt unmoving.

I cheered with the crowd at Ceto's success and the Charizard was returned. I looked at Jeremy and he appeared to be sweating and terrified. Soon after, a fortified crab appeared on the field, which I recognized as a Kingler. I realized then that the Charizard was the kid's only effective pokemon. He had probably used the Charizard to breeze through every challenge at the expense of his other pokemons' development.

The match was short between Ceto and the Kingler. It tried to strengthen its defenses against Ceto, but she sprayed it with scalding water over and over again until it lay twitching on the ground. With a sigh of relief, I left the field amidst the din of cheering spectators and allowed the medical facility to take my injured pokemon for a required hour.

The people seated around my parents praised me with a renewed vigor and respect after that battle, and Sheila gave me a hug, which I accepted gratefully. I then realized in her arms that I was trembling and that so much adrenaline had shot through my body that it now was having trouble functioning. I sat down next to my parents and relaxed as Keith took the field a couple battles after the following match.

Keith won his match and progressed to the top eight with me, but Chris was beaten out by a trainer that I vaguely recognized. When I finally returned to the trainer seating area, I was greeted by warm faces and congratulations. Jeremy was pouting on the far side and one of the people next to him hurried over to me. "I've never seen _anyone_ defeat Perces. Do you know who that dragon belonged to?" he asked.

I shook my head and the astonished boy continued, "He belonged to Jeremy's father who beat Elite Jean Barnes! Perces hasn't been defeated throughout all of Jeremy's challenges. I can't believe you managed to beat him."

My head swam at the knowledge that my pokemon were strong enough to defeat a dragon that had been used to beat the second Elite 4 member. It was a confidence boost to say the least.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Round six allowed me to use four pokemon, and I chose to bring Ceto, Dante, Azrael, and Gilles into the match. Dante started off facing a Dusclops, the first trained ghost pokemon I had come across. It was bad luck that Dante would go against it, and it showed that the trainer had studied my starting pokemon and made a good choice. Dante actually managed to beat it by paralyzing it and hitting it with a technique that he had learned from Aoro's Scizor to combat his weaknesses: _Night_ _Slash_.

Night Slash is also a technique that Leader Kay had used effectively against Gilles, which proved to be invaluable against the ghost. With it, Dante was able to overcome the ghost while sustaining injuries. A Rapidash was sent out next, which I am sure my father was excited to see, and it was able to finally put Dante out of play.

I let Ceto loose next, and she easily beat the fire horse with a torrent of water guns and hydro pumps. An Ampharos was sent out next, and I knew it was the trainer's counter to her. The Ampharos was able to take a few hits before shocking Ceto into submission, but it did not last long against Azrael, who ended the fight with a single bulldoze.

The trainer's last pokemon was a Starmie which put up an honorable fight before being defeated by Azrael's dragon claws and bulldozes. In the end, I was victorious and moved into the semi-finals, passing Keith, who lost to the same trainer who had beaten Chris. My parents, Keith, Sheila, and even Chris were proud of me and congratulated me on my progress into the top four trainers.

The night featured a meal made by my parents and more of Keith, the girl chaser's, shenanigans. All through the late hours, however, I was preparing myself for the final day. My battle was at noon, the second semifinal battle would take place at 1:00, and the final battle was to be held at 6:00 P.M. While I allowed myself to bask in my achievements thus far, I would still be ready for the coming battles.

I was awoken by Rufus snarling and standing over my sleeping form. Other than his snarling, I could hear Keith playing music in the living room and feminine giggles, but both stopped abruptly when they heard Rufus. The door was thrust open and Keith was standing seriously and ready for anything, a pokeball in his hand. The light flooded into the room and illuminated its interior. Through a profuse amount of sweat, exacerbated by Rufus's heat, I saw that nothing was out of the ordinary in the room and Rufus appeared to be snarling at the mirror.

I sat up, drenched, while Keith asked, "What's going on, man?"

"I don't know. Rufus, calm down. This has been happening every night now, but Rufus only freaked out this much the second night I was here." I looked at the clock and saw that it was 2:37 in the morning. I sighed and let my body fall back down on the bed.

"Dude, I'm not sure what that means, but it can't be good. Pokemon don't just freak out for no reason," Keith said, wisely.

"Yeah, I know. But I've been a bit preoccupied with the tournament to deal with it," I said, annoyed.

"Whatever, man. I wouldn't be comfortable if that kept happening to me. But anyway, I'll let you get back to sleep in this creepy room." I thanked him sarcastically and he shut the door behind him, leaving me in the quickly-growing unease that accompanied me during the night.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

When I studied the team of my next opponent, Jeb, my memory came racing back to me. He had beaten me once before on Route 5, the only pokemon I remember and cornerstone of his team being a burly Abomasnow. His win had angered me greatly at the time and now was my chance for revenge. He had also beaten Chris and Keith to arrive where he was.

I studied his team and saw that he had used an Altaria, a Cacturne, and a Machamp so far. I also saw that he was a contestant at the previous year's JIC. I knew that he had an Abomasnow, and he had probably studied my team. This meant that he knew of Dante, Ceto, and Azrael. Judging on that, he might start off with the Cacturne. Or he might use a hidden pokemon like Abomasnow. However, knowing about Azrael might make him save the Abomasnow until after Azrael took out one of his team. This was an unfortunate aspect of battle tactics: knowing when to sacrifice a pokemon.

Jeb would probably wait until I used Azrael to send out the Abomasnow, which meant that I could either start with Azrael and take out one of his pokemon before he sent out the ice type, or I could start with Dante or Ceto. Rufus would be my backup for this fight in case I needed him against the Abomasnow. Then the possibility crossed my mind that he might lead with a weak pokemon in order to draw out a tough starter and then choose a counter for it after being defeated.

It was a gamble, and I chose to put my money on Ceto. I stood apart from Jeb with my mind set, and the screen above me dedicated to Jeb's stats read, **Gym Record: 7-4, Nugget Bridge: 2-1, 2072 JIC Participant. **When I released Ceto into the pool of water to my right, Jeb released his Altaria. It showed that he was expecting me to use Dante and had made a mistake, giving me an immediate upper hand. "Ice beam!" I yelled.

The draconic bird spread its cloudlike fluffy wings and flew into the sky rapidly, dodging the beam of ice in the process. It continued to acrobatically dodge beam after beam until it looked to the sun and drew in energy. While it drew in energy for a solar beam, Ceto pierced its thick chest with an ice beam, causing it to falter for a second. It then sent a yellowish green beam of light straight at Ceto, sacrificing its well-being to deal damage, but Ceto also sent another ice beam and dove at the same time.

Both pokemon were hit by a different beam, but only Ceto remained conscious afterwards, avoiding the brunt of the attack. Jeb returned his Altaria before it hit the ground and then sent out a new pokemon. A Gardevoir hovered above the ground and eyed her opponent menacingly before teleporting away to dodge a scalding water gun.

When she reappeared, the Gardevoir released a bolt of electricity into the water and through Ceto's body. Ceto retaliated with an ice beam, but it missed. "Out of the water and agility!" I yelled, and Ceto used her surrounding water to explosively eject herself out of the water and towards her opponent.

When the Gardevoir teleported away, Ceto was ready for her to appear and sent out a boiling jet of water. The Gardevoir cried out in pain before splitting into six images and teleporting away once again. "Water pulse wide!" I ordered, and Ceto started sending out bursts of water. The large force bubbles hit all of the images and caused them to shimmer, revealing the non-shimmering image as the real Gardevoir.

The Gardevoir sent a jet of electricity surging towards Ceto and struck her with a _crack_, but Ceto continued to fight fervently. With another pulse – this one concentrated – Ceto knocked the Gardevoir onto the ground. As the Gardevoir rose from the ground unsteadily and looked around herself with a lack of recognition, I felt my excitement grow. The pulse had rendered her confused and unaware of her surroundings.

"Alright, Ceto! Power up a scalding hydro pump!" I yelled, knowing it would take her a few seconds to perform the move. Apparently Jeb thought that his Gardevoir could take the hit because he did not recall her. It was a poor decision on his part because it was the last decision for her that he ever made.

Ceto drew water from the pool and condensed it in front of her snout, and then focused for a second before it started steaming. Then she launched the water in a cylinder about a foot in diameter and five feet in length with exceptional accuracy, hitting the Gardevoir in the neck and face. A loud crack was heard and she collapsed on the ground. After fifteen seconds had passed, it was obvious that Jeb's pokeball was not responding and the reality set in for me, Jeb, and the crowd.

The cheering died, I lowered my head in respect, and Jeb cried out. He ran onto the field and knelt over the maiden-like form of his Gardevoir and moaned in grief. Before long, I noticed that Ceto had returned to my side. I looked down at her and she looked up to me, her eyes bereft of any regret. She knew the risks of the game and chose not to let the accidents hold her back.

I nodded to her and ran my hand carefully along her scaled crest. "We're not finished yet. Are you fit to continue? Or should I switch you out for Dante or Azrael?" I asked her, noting how beaten up she looked. I was not surprised when Ceto shook her head, determined to continue fighting. I sighed with pride and patted her on the head before motioning for her to return to the pool of water.

Jeb was allowed a period of three minutes to grieve before he was given the choice to forfeit or continue. He chose to continue and an Alakazam teleported the Gardevoir's body out of the arena. Jeb then looked at me with rage and released his hulking Abomasnow. "That Seadra just _killed_ Shiva! You know what to do!" he yelled at his green and white bigfoot-like pokemon.

The Abomasnow's eyes grew red with rage and it looked over to Ceto with absolute hatred. It jumped into a sprint across the field, roaring in fury and not even paying heed to the scalding blast of water that hit it in the shoulder and chest. As it ran, part of its plant-like fur whistled in the air, creating a mind-resonating tune that put Ceto to sleep in the water. When it reached the edge of the water, it raised its hackles and threw razor sharp leaves at Ceto's limp body.

I quickly recalled Ceto before the razor leaves hit and the Abomasnow eyed me dangerously. "No, Frigid! Stand down!" Jeb yelled, no doubt preventing it from charging me. With a sigh, I released Dante.

"Get in close and hammer him down with brick breaks and rock smashes!" I commanded, and Dante teleported into action. He appeared behind the Abomasnow and hit with an open palm, shaking icicles from the creatures fur. The Abomasnow whipped around fast enough to hit Dante before he could teleport away, but Dante caught the attack on the blade edge of his arm, sending chunks of ice flying from his fist.

The Abomasnow roared as Dante teleported away, and it nursed a deep gash on its hand. Dante reappeared and split into four images before teleporting once again beside the Abomasnow on two sides at once. Both images slashed, but one red line appeared, on the opposite side of the Abomasnow's retaliatory attack. It fell to the side and kicked up with an icy leg, but Dante once again threw his blade into the attack, cutting into the foot and breaking the ice.

Dante then unleased a trio of fighting-type moves on his injured opponent before it stopped moving and Jeb recalled it. Standing at the other end of the field, Jeb appeared sad and hopeless as he released his last pokemon. A seven-foot four-armed humanoid appeared in front of him and flexed its enormous muscles in readiness.

I could see Jeb talking to his Machamp with a hanging head and watched as the Machamp lowered its head. It then used one of its left arms to grasp the top of Jeb's shoulder and one of its right arms to fist-bump Jeb's chest softly. I felt a twang of sadness for him – especially after witnessing the comradeship between them – but I would not allow myself to feel guilty.

The Machamp slammed his fist into his own chest and took the field resolutely. I then looked to Dante and said heavily, "Stay at a distance; do NOT let him in close. Just hit him with 'psychic,' confusion, and psycho-cuts. Teleport away when it gets close."

Dante nodded. _This is the way of things. Our abilities are designed to kill, so it comes as no surprise to me when an opponent meets that fate. Our enemies__ will fall before us; not the other way around. _

Dante's blunt wisdom hit me with the force of a brick break and made me realize that I no longer had to justify death to myself. This was the "sport" that I engaged in. Trainers take wild pokemon who have evolved with abilities to prolong their existence at the expense of their prey, and they turn those abilities against one another for sport. At least, that is the aim of the majority of the League participants.

For those who would rise to greatness, it is not simply a sport; it is evolution in itself. Aoro told me that the League protects, and in order to truly protect a civilization against oblivion, one must become the strongest one _can_ become. In order to accomplish that, one must gain strength by beating back his opponents. One must grow accustomed to victory. And one must not be held back by those who fall against him in pursuit of that goal. It was paradox; in order to protect, one must conquer.

The Machamp surged towards Dante, only to be blasted backwards with a powerful psychic force. It rolled back to its feet and continued its speedy rush, only to get lifted off of the ground and thrown into a pool of water. Psychic blades then flew at it, impacting but not breaking the Machamp's thick hide as it tried to climb out of the water. It fought through the psychic blades and climbed out of the water before slamming its foot down and shaking the ground violently.

The earthquake knocked Dante and me to the ground. The Machamp then closed the distance between them with incredible speed and leapt into the air to administer a powerful seismic slam, but Dante teleported away just in time. The Machamp landed with a thud and put a crater into the ground before being hit with another psychic force. It was flung across the ground and stood up again, only to be hit with another psychic force. That repeated four more times before Jeb finally recalled his Machamp and I was declared the winner.

The crowd cheered loudly despite the horrible spectacle they had witnessed, and Jeb was teleported out by an Alakazam. I looked at Dante happily, and he returned the sentiment. _J'Kun, my enemies are defeated_, he said, and I returned him. Then I left the arena and gave my team over for medical treatment.

From there, I looked for the designated area for pokemon killed in action and found it relatively quickly. Jeb and his battered pokemon all hung around the Gardevoir's body in reverence and sorrow. I stood nearby, but did not interrupt. When Jeb finally noticed me, he stood up with a scowl. "Why are you here?"

"I came to pay my respects," I said simply. I had mixed feelings; on the one hand, Jeb had battled decently. On the other hand, I would have forfeited my pokemon before subjecting it to an unblocked hydro pump from an observably powerful pokemon. I blamed Jeb almost as much as I blamed Ceto for the death of the Gardevoir. Instead of feeling regret or disappointment in my pokemon, I chose to honor and respect the opponent who had given its life to test our strength and make us better.

"Is this a joke? Is this your idea of putting your own mind to rest?" he asked distrustfully.

"In a way, it does put my mind to rest," I answered honestly. "I'm sure I would not want to hear it if one of my friends met the same fate; but for what it's worth, I know what it's like to lose a pokemon. I want to show my respect for a worthy and honorable opponent who met with an unfortunate fate."

Jeb looked away while his pokemon looked at me distrustfully. Then he turned back and said, "Thank you for the gesture. I would like to be alone with my team."

I nodded and left, thinking that I probably would not have taken it as well as him.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"Legendaries!" Sheila exclaimed. "That was terrifying! Great job on the win, but geez."

I thanked her and said, "I would not have let the hydro pump hit if my pokemon was as weakened as that Gardevoir."

"I was thinking the same thing," Sheila said, dispassionately. I was honestly surprised by Sheila's reaction; I was expecting a more emotional and compassionate outlook towards my opponent. I voiced my opinion on the matter and Sheila seemed to pale. "My father taught me a lot when he trained me. I've been a bit naïve, I know. In a way, I feel sorry for the pokemon, but it was a mix of poor decision-making on behalf of its trainer, and bad luck on the field."

I did not know how to respond to Sheila. I had prepared an entire speech to explain my outlook, but giving it now seemed pointless. "Huh. Who'd have thought that Sheila would ever see it that way?" I said, pointing out the irony. Sheila only frowned at me and chuckled, showing that she understood the sarcasm. I wondered what her father could have possibly told her to change her so dramatically but I did not ask.

"I agree with Sheila; that was terrifying," said my father, who was sitting next to her. "I'm surprised that you did so well against the last two trainers when you had such a difficult time against the kid with the Charizard."

"The tournament is bracketed into seeds with various considerations taken into account," I told him. "Apparently someone in the seeding process wanted one of us to lose before the semis. If I had to guess, I would say that someone knew that his success was not earned, and put someone against him who could possibly humble him."

"Astute theory, MacAfee," came a deep and booming voice from the isle. We all looked over to see Aoro walking towards our seats. A hush spread over the vicinity as the gym leader sat down beside us.

"Mother, Father, Sheila, this is Leader Craul," I introduced.

"I know who he is!" mocked Sheila, and Aoro's booming laugh rang out.

"Ah! The Hoennese girl. I remember you!" said Aoro, looking at Sheila with a grin. "I haven't heard much about you since you beat Ben."

"I went home," Sheila replied with a smile. "I've beaten the fifth leader there and I went to the Junior Ever Grande Conference. Placed top eight."

"Well congratulations, girl. But I actually stopped by to give our little finalist here some advice." He turned to me and said, "Watch this next battle carefully. I have a pretty good idea who your opponent will be based on the seeding chart and the past year's JIC. Of the next two fighters, one placed in the semi-finals last year, and he was a doozy. His name is Kurt and he fights hard and strong. Use what I trained you and you can beat him. Oh, and I'm sure you've noticed that influential eyes are watching you today."

I had not, but I looked over to the other side of the stadium to see the League Officers' seating area full. Aoro saw me look and said, "All of us are here for the final battle, and I know that the Champion and two Elites were watching the last match. Speaking of which, give Dante a smack on the back for me. He did a bang up job using what I taught him. As for you, this will probably be the toughest match you've fought. Keep your head up and come through in the end. I will not be unsportsmanlike and divulge to you the members of his team, but I will tell you to be prepared, and good luck."

With that said, I thanked Aoro before he left us, and I prepared to scrutinize the next battle to the best of my abilities.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

At 5:45, I was standing beside Kurt while the League theme was played throughout the stadium once more. When the music ended, the Moltres-flame brazier flared and gave blessing to the final match, and then a commentator's voice rang out over the stadium in introduction for the first time.

**L-L-Ladies and Gentlemen! You've waited for almost a week to see the final showdown between the two best trainers at the Junior Indigo Conference. In a few short minutes, your suspense will be satisfied as our two strongest contestants will strive for victory. Give it up for your finalists! **

The commentator paused as the stadium erupted into applause and cheers, only to continue the introduction with renewed enthusiasm. **The Red trainer has yet to lose a single gym match out of five. He has yet to lose a single match at the Nugget Bridge out of two. And of course he has not lost a single match at this tournament. Red trainer, MacAfee, take your position on the field!**

The crowd roared its support for me as I hefted a pokeball in my hand and stood fifty feet from the center of the arena. **The Blue trainer has beaten seven gyms, boasting an impressive two-loss record. He also has gone undefeated at the Nugget Bridge on two occasions, he placed top four in the 2072 Junior Indigo Conference, and has of course remained unbeaten at this tournament. Blue trainer, Feinburg, take your position on the field!**

The crowd roared its support as Kurt took his place 100 feet from me on the other side of the field's center, also hoisting a pokeball. From what I observed from his fight, and from what my father had told me, he had used four pokemon thus far. He had used an Infernape, an Armaldo, a Froslass, and a Blastoise. However, if he was a tactician such as myself, he would lead with a non-used pokemon.

When a loud horn sounded, we both released our pokemon. I stared in awe and excitement at the rare Metagross standing in front of Gilles. I immediately yelled, "Will-o-wisp and shadow balls! Stay away from it!"

With a cackle, Gilles flew into the sky and sent a ball of purple fire smashing into the slow, four-legged psychic/ metal pokemon. The purple fire washed over it and started burning intensely. The Metagross responded by erecting a light screen over itself. The light screen was powerful enough to withstand a shadow ball from Gilles shortly after without breaking, a testament to the Metagross's intense concentration. Psychic entities such as barriers tend to collapse against ghost or dark type techniques, but are still capable of being maintained by a strong-enough pokemon with strong-enough focus.

It released a powerful psychic force at Gilles soon after, hitting him and causing him to screech in pain. "Keep shooting shadow balls and dodge what you can!" I ordered. Gilles then flew around in the sky, firing orbs of shadow that blasted through the tough metal pokemon's barrier. He took two more psychic hits in the air, displaying either Gilles' trained resistance to damage or the Metagross's weakness in attacking at a distance, maybe a combination of both. "Sucker shadow!" I yelled, and Gilles zoomed across the field with his shadow, dodging another psychic attack and reappearing behind the Metagross with a shadow punch.

The punch did little, but it allowed Gilles to move behind the slow monolith and attack at short range with multiple shadow balls. Gilles' shadow balls were strong enough and numerous enough to cause the Metagross to collapse, and I rejoiced when the referee called for Kurt to send out a new pokemon.

Gilles returned to me, his body dragging in the air wearily, and gave a weakened giggle. "Great job, Gilles," I said to him. "It's a good thing you can hit so well with such strong energy attacks. Physical attacks would have been useless." **The red trainer has immediately taken the lead by beating blue trainer's Metagross.**

Kurt quickly released a floating white maiden-looking pokemon. It was about four feet tall, its color pattern looked like a white and blue kimono, and its face lay behind a white teardrop-shaped helmet. I knew it was the Froslass, a ghost and ice type pokemon. It was bad news for Gilles, who was injured and would not be able to hypnotize it easily to eat its dreams.

"Same strategy!" I yelled, and Gilles let loose a purple flame which shrouded the icy ghost in a raging fire. As the ghost erupted into a fiery blaze, I saw it charge up a powerful shadow ball and an idea burst in my mind like a shattered lightbulb. "Batting practice!" I yelled.

The Froslass let the ball of shadows loose and it streamed through the air at Gilles, who, instead of "catching" it in front of him, redirected it around him like a small, black orbiting moon, and sent it screaming back with more intensity. I saw Kurt's eyes widen with surprise and I heard the commentator roar. **HE SENT IT BACK!**

The force of the impact blasted the Froslass backwards and onto the ground in a burning heap. With a final heave, the Froslass lifted itself into the air and waved its hand in a sweeping motion. I noticed an ominous wind slam Gilles from the side and send his shadowy body hurtling to the ground. Shortly after, the Froslass collapsed due to the fire. **A draw!**

We were left with another gamble. Who would pick what? I knew that he might have an Infernape, a Blastoise, or an Armaldo, so I made my decision and picked a pokemon who was effective against most of them: Ceto.

Kurt apparently was driven to desperation after being behind by one, and sent out a pokemon that jabbed at my flight response. A terrifying roar shook the stadium as a dragon appeared on the field. The blue dragon with red wings stood on its hind legs to reach a height of 16 feet and shook the stadium once more with a savage roar.

Anxiety gripped my mind as the Salamence crashed its front legs back to the ground and started running towards the pool of water. Then I yelled, "Ice beams!" Ceto let loose a brilliant clear beam that carved a hole into the dragon's wing, but it did not slow down and dived into the pool. "Stay away from it!" I screamed, but Ceto was flung from the pool to the middle of the field, where she landed with a thud.

Ceto rose from the ground and hurried to a different pool as fast as she could, but the sound of flapping wings caught her attention and she turned around to see the Salamence descending on her in an aerial pounce. Just in time, Ceto lowered her head and caught a clawed hand on her durable crest, negating most of the damage. Then she released an ice beam directly into the Salamence's chest, the icicle piercing some of its scales and making it cry out in a pained rage.

The Salamence opened its jaws, electricity playing over its teeth, and latched on to Ceto's crest, electrocuting her in the process. The force of the bite did not harm Ceto, but the electricity coursing through her body was draining her health quickly. She tried to react, but could not control her body past the electricity. Once I saw her health drop below ten percent on the pokeball, I returned her, warranting a triumphant roar from the Salamence. **Red trainer has forfeited his Seadra!**

There were no other alternatives on my team better suited for this opponent than Azrael, so he was released onto the field with a brave bellow. "It's strong, Azrael! Dragon rush and dragon claws. Block its attacks," I said quickly.

Once the signal to start was given, Azrael surged forward with blinding speed and slammed into the Salamence before it could leave the ground, having unfurled its wings in preparation for flight. It was knocked back and before it could react, Azrael was clawing at it furiously. The Salamence retaliated with its own dragon claw, but Azrael caught it on the bone bulb beside his head and slashed at it again.

Azrael had the Salamence off-balance, and knowing that, Kurt yelled a command that made my breath catch in my throat. "HYPER BEAM!" Even though the Salamence was falling backwards, a small ball of light appeared at its mouth and surged outwards in a wide cone, directly into Azrael's chest, throwing him back and sending him crashing along the ground in a violent tumble.

"Get up and rush him again!" I yelled. Azrael pulled himself off of the ground and rushed to his opponent, slamming into its weakened body quickly. A couple seconds later, another small ball of light appeared at the Salamence's mouth and struck Azrael in the chest, sending him careening away once again.

"Tomb and whip!" I yelled, and Azrael returned to his feet with visible strain. The hyper beams were rudimentary and sloppy, but effective nonetheless. Azrael surged forward, his eyes glowing dark red, and the earth beneath the weakened Salamence shifted into a liquid-like vacuum that pulled its victim down.

The blue dragon tried to climb out, but it was hit in the face with a dense wall of earth, forcing it farther into the sand tomb. With only its head, neck, and arms protruding from the sand pit, Azrael whipped his muscular tail around and hit the Salamence's face like a batter hitting a baseball. The force sent the dragon's head crashing into the side of the sandpit and the Salamence was recalled directly after, the crowd erupting once more into cheers. **Blue trainer's Salamence is finally taken down by an impressive combo!**

Kurt followed up by releasing a six-foot-tall armored mantis-like shrimp. The Armaldo chittered aggressively and took a chitin-clad step forward. I knew little about the pokemon, only doing rudimentary research the hours before to find out that it was a pokemon originally cloned from a fossil, and Azrael's only effective attacks would be to use rock slide.

I ordered Azrael to fling rocks at it, and the Armaldo shot forward with speed uncharacteristic to its race. It was hit in the shoulder with a rock the size of a beach ball, but kept coming. "Bulldoze!" I yelled, but it had already reached Azrael and slammed a metal claw into Azrael's spike-protected arm. Azrael sent up a strong wave of dirt, but the Armaldo cut through it and caught Azrael by surprise with another metal claw. This time, the claw hit Azrael in the chin and he fell back. The Armaldo was on him instantly, slashing furiously into his side.

It was there that I called it for Azrael and returned him. The hyper beams had injured him more than he let on and he was about to pass out anyway. It was only merciful to spare him the pain. **The red trainer's dragon is finally taken out of the fight! **With little thought needed, I released Rufus in front of me and said, "This is your opportunity to test your new skill. Fire blast!"

With a howl of joy, Rufus ran forward and discharged a ball of fire in the Armaldo's direction. The ball was slow, which allowed the rock/bug pokemon to jump out of the way, but upon impact, the ball exploded in a fiery detonation. The force of the explosion sent the Armaldo rolling away, and I saw that Rufus was not skilled enough with it to avoid having to recover after using it. "Finish with a flamethrower. Do not let up," I warned.

Rufus let out a stream of fire that washed over the Armaldo with less effectiveness than I had hoped for, and the Armaldo ran forward to bring its claws striking in an X. Rufus was nimble and leapt out of the way, renewing his flamethrower. The Armaldo followed up by lifting rocks out of the ground and flinging them at Rufus, hitting him multiple times and making him yelp in pain. He once again renewed the constant stream of flames onto the Armaldo while it attempted to throw more rocks at Rufus, only to fall over mid-motion. It had finally succumbed to the flames, but Rufus had been weakened. **Blue trainer is down to his last pokemon!**

Kurt's last pokemon sent tremors of joy and sadness through my body. I was sad because I knew that Rufus would probably not be able to win, but that he would weaken it enough for Dante to finish the job. A fiery ape about five feet tall stood across from us and stretched its limber muscles before rushing into combat.

"Smog, feint, smog!" I commanded, and Rufus moved forward billowing smoke from his mouth. The poisonous gas clouded around the Infernape while it ran, and when it was close enough to deliver an attack, Rufus performed a convincing feint to the fire ape's stomach. The ape was quick enough to take the hit and throw a punch at Rufus's face in quick succession, but Rufus caught the punch on his solid horns and then blasted the monkey directly with dense noxious smog.

The Infernape retaliated with a series of quick, crisp fighting moves, and Rufus was thrown down to the ground, unconscious. **Both trainers are down to their last pokemon! **I released Dante and said, "You are the only one left and that ape is the last opponent. Finish this, Dante! Same strategy as the Machamp battle."

Dante bowed and rushed in front of me. The Infernape, breathing heavily, quickly covered the distance, only to be lifted up and thrown away. Then, in an impressive display of acrobatics, the Infernape dodged all four of Dante's psychic blades before bringing its hands together and forming an orb of fire. Dante teleported out of the way as the orb hit where he had just been standing and exploded in fire. Dante then used his psychic force to slam into the Infernape's open body and send it careening away.

It once again tried to hit Dante with a ball of fire, knowing that it would never get in close enough, but it failed to hit my psychic warrior. Dante teleported and prepared a few psycho-cuts, but both of us were surprised when the Infernape used a fire whip to wrap Dante in a swirling vortex and charge forward. The Infernape burst through the ring of fire and unleashed a devastating series of punches and kicks, completely disregarding its own safety.

I was able to see Dante blocking some of the blows, but he was being hit with at least half. I could see the Infernape starting to weaken and the veins on its face start to become pronounced and purple, so I yelled, "Sweep its legs and get out of there!" fearing for Dante. Dante blocked a kick and then swept his foot in a circle, catching the Infernape's only grounded leg and knocking it over. Then he teleported away as the Infernape recovered quickly in an acrobatic flourish to his feet.

In the moment it took the Infernape to focus back on reality after its blind, adrenaline-induced melee, Dante sent four more psychic blades slashing into its body. After the fourth one hit, the Infernape collapsed in a quickly widening pool of blood. The entire stadium was quiet, and I gasped for air, realizing that I had been holding my breath.

**The Infernape is down! Red trainer wins!** The crowd erupted into a chaotic cacophony of clapping, yipping, whistling, and cheering, and the Infernape was returned to its pokeball. The intensity of the cheering was the same as it was during the final preparation ceremony, but unlike that time, it was all for me. I stood, with Dante by my side, victorious. No one in the tournament lay before me. I looked down at Dante with a grin and Dante looked back up at me.

_J'Kun, our enemies are defeated._

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

After my victory, I was persuaded to celebrate with everyone later that night at the bar. After I was interviewed, which took half an hour, I had returned to the stands to receive numerous pats on the back, including a particularly forceful slap by Aoro. The praise felt good, but for some reason, a hug from Sheila felt better than the entire hodgepodge of commendations. My father and mother were impressed, and I felt that I made significant progress in convincing them of my competence and ability, which was only bolstered by them telling me so.

After a satisfying dinner, in which my parents, Sheila, Chris, and Keith joined me, my parents left to return to their hotel and I accompanied them with a beleaguered Rufus in tow. Afterwards, I prepared myself to meet everyone at the Spirit's Glory, a bar on the plateau.

Cheering rang out as I entered the Spirit's Glory. The light from inside caused my pupils to contract after walking through the darkness of night. Everyone in the bar raised a drink in my honor and I was given a complementary beer on the house. Sheila, Keith, and Chris surrounded me and led me to a table where they proceeded to shove one alcoholic beverage after another in front of me. Despite my objections to drinking so fast, my friends continued to give me more and to drink along with me.

The night was hearty and thrilling, but oppressive at the same time. Everyone wanted to talk to me or buy me a drink, which made me feel fairly claustrophobic. However, after a few drinks, my discomfort fell away, and it was not until a girl grabbed my crotch that my discomfort returned. I was sober enough to remember Sheila almost punching the girl, whose name I cannot remember, in the face. However, after that incident, I ordered a particularly strong drink and the night fell into a blurry dream.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

_Knock, knock! _My eyes opened and I was staring at the ceiling in my room. _Ugh, why is my head pounding so hard?_ I thought, before Keith opened the door to my room and allowed painful rays of light to shine in.

"Rise and shine, champ!" he declared enthusiastically. His words each felt like hammers beating against my head. With a groan, I turned over and covered my head with my blanket. Rufus was not with me, but I saw my belt with all five pokeballs attached lying on my bedside table.

"Oh no you don't," said Keith playfully. "It's 10:00; you've got the closing ceremony in two hours. Get up, would ya?"

I heard Keith walk away and groaned again, sitting up. I still felt as if the effects of the alcohol were still affecting me, so I held my head in my hands for a few minutes before I heard Keith's footsteps approach once more. He turned the lights on and my headache intensified dramatically, earning him an unappreciative glare.

"Here, drink this. It always helps me in the morning when I go too hard," Keith said as he handed me a cup of what looked to be a sports drink. I tasted it to find out that, low and behold, it _was_ merely a sports drink. I looked up at Keith sardonically but he said, "Hey! Don't give me that look. It works." Then he turned and left the room while saying, "Dude, that doll is freaky. You should torch it."

It took me a few moments to register what he said, but when it hit me, my eyes widened and I looked around the room. On the dresser next to the mirror was the same gray, humanoid doll that had occupied my room at the Pokemon Center in Saffron City. It was sitting against the wall, seemingly innocent, but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Despite the feeling of dread, my head ached and I needed to get ready. In my post-binge delirium, I ignored the doll and took a shower in the room's bathroom. The cool water felt wonderful against my skin, and I allowed myself to stand still for ten minutes after washing myself before I exited the shower. My tournament clothes felt dirty against my clean skin, but my pounding head drew my attention away from the uncomfortable feeling.

When I finally emerged from the bathroom, I stopped in the doorway. The doll was now sitting in the middle of my bed, its head hanging low over its chest. I felt the hair on my back rise and I called out painfully, "Keith?"

He appeared in the other doorway a few seconds later. "What's up?"

"Did you move that doll to my bed?" I asked, apprehension gripping my words.

"No… Are you implying that you didn't?" he asked, growing serious.

"What pokemon do you have?" I asked, noting that my pokeballs were a couple feet from the doll. For some reason, I did not want to go anywhere near it.

"You better not be screwing with me. I have my Luxray, Crobat, Lucario, Weavile, Talonflame, and Wartortle," Keith listed off.

"I need my pokeballs," I said tersely.

When Keith quickly left and returned with his pokeball bandolier, he reached down and grabbed a pokeball. When he gripped the pokeball in his hand, the doll's head moved slightly to the side, causing Keith to pause. "This is _so_ messed up," he said before quickly releasing his speedy Lucario between us. "Get his pokeballs now!" he said quickly as the room became wavy and distorted around us. With a quick lunge, the Lucario nabbed my pokeball belt and threw it to me, whereupon I detached Rufus's ball and held it in my hand.

At that moment, a baritone laughing filled the room, causing my head to painfully throb. As I held Rufus's ball, the doll's head raised to look at me with closed eyes. I could not help but be frozen with alarm as I took in its creepy countenance. Its mouth was zippered shut and it had hornlike protrusions on its head, under its dark gray burlap-like skin. It had a ribbon extending from the top of its head, flat arms, and a brush-like tail. Then it opened its eyes and looked at me directly.

Its eyes glowed red and had black slits down their centers, like the ones in my dreams, and they peered into mine while the baritone laughter intensified. Keith yelling my name broke me from my shock, and I released Rufus in front of me. It took him a second to take in his surroundings, but then his hair stood up and his lip curled into a vicious snarl.

The laugher ended abruptly and turned into a high pitched wailing before Rufus leapt upon the bed aggressively. The doll simply faded down through the mattress before Rufus could reach it, its wailing fading as it descended. Keith found me on the ground holding my head in agony, and found the cause of my suffering to be my hangover as opposed to some mental attack.

"Mew help us; you have some serious problems, man. Let's get your shit in the main room and keep that door closed," Keith said, shuddering as he motioned his pokemon out of the room.

Keith was significantly rattled as he helped me place all of my belongings in the living room. After we finished transporting my belongings, Sheila visited, but her predictably happy face soon turned into a frown when she saw the state of unrest in our apartment. "What happened here?" she asked.

"I think I have a pokemon stalker…" I said, exhaustion evident in my voice.

Sheila simply lifted an eyebrow in confusion, but Keith walked over and said, "Yeah. A damn creepy doll that seemed really mean. It fell _through_ his bed when he let his Houndoom out."

"Ugh, I really don't need this," I complained, sitting on a couch and putting my throbbing head in my hands.

"This is really serious," Sheila said, sitting down beside me. "We need to talk to someone about it."

"Maybe later. I just want to go back to bed after the ceremony," I said, pathetically.

Sheila laughed. "I would expect as much with how much you had to drink last night. Speaking of, how was it for you?"

"It was fun, I guess," I said. "Though I can't remember a whole lot."

"Oh?" Sheila asked. "What _do_ you remember?"

"Well I remember some girl grabbing me…" I said, rubbing my neck in embarrassment. "But I can't seem to remember anything after."

"Nothing?" Sheila asked, her countenance changing to one of concern.

"Um… Wait, you almost punched her out. Did you actually punch her or something?" I asked.

Sheila's face took on a countenance that left me feeling horrible. Her cheeks flushed, her lips slanted down into a frown, and it looked as if water filled her eyes. In short, she looked heartbroken. Keith then excused himself awkwardly and walked into his room.

"Sheila, what's wrong?" I asked, wondering what possibly could have happened to make her so upset.

Sheila cleared her voice before replying. "Nothing happened. You were just really drunk." She smiled, but I could tell that it was forced. Confusion gripped me and I apologized if I did anything wrong, to which she replied, "There's nothing to be sorry for. Just forget it." No matter how hard I pressed her after that, she only insisted that nothing was wrong, which only made me more muddled than before, considering I knew that she was hiding something from me.

In the end, I caved in and let it go. We all walked to the stadium for the closing ceremony in awkward silence, only speaking once we arrived to arrange a meet-up afterwards. When Sheila disappeared into the stands, I looked at Keith and asked him what was bothering Sheila, but he only said, "Don't know, man." At that point, I gave up with a sigh of defeat and entered the field where I had seized victory.

The other participants were lining up, but I was directed to stand at the front of the crowd. Kurt and the semi-finalists stood on an elevated platform, the third and fourth-placed contestants standing on equally tall podiums and Kurt standing on a platform which was about a foot taller than the others. I stepped up onto the tallest platform with "#1" painted on its front and the crowd's intensity picked up.

The roar of the crowd made my head ache more than ever, and I was forced to _suffer_ through the din of celebratory honors that made my head throb. What I had imagined to be a magnificent dreamlike moment actually had me wishing that the ceremony in my honor would end as quickly as possible. The roar of the crowd did not cease as the League's theme rang out and the commentator spoke.

**Ladies and gentlemen! Please give your contestants a hand for their efforts at the Junior Indigo Conference! And give your top four a special round of applause. They made it all six days to the end of the tournament to show us that they are the best. Now, everyone please give it up for your tournament champion: Zachariah MacAfee!**

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note: So this is by far my longest chapter, and I'm fine with it staying this length because I do not want to split the JIC into multiple parts. On a technical and apologetic note, I mixed up the name of Sheila's tournament with that of Johto's, and had to change it to the correct name. Other than that, I felt like a lot happened, including the release of the MC's name and an increase in the Zachariah-Sheila tension, which I felt was appropriate for Singles' Awareness Day! Please don't hesitate to comment with how you felt about it all, or specific parts. Thanks for all of the comments so far and until next time!


	18. Chapter 18: East to the City of Ghosts

Chapter 18

"This is TM15; it contains Hyper Beam," President Dawley informed me and the runner up while we stood on the podiums. As he talked, he pulled out three small disks. "As the Champion, you will receive two, and the runner up will only receive one. These are very advanced and destructive techniques, as you undoubtedly know. Use them wisely; they are not ordinary battle moves."

As he presented the TM's to us, the crowd rumbled. Then he presented our medals, mine being a pure gold-plated medallion two inches in diameter. On it the words "Junior Indigo Conference First Place" were engraved around the League pokeball with wings. The crowd rumbled once more before President Dawley spoke again into his microphone. This concludes the 2073 Junior Indigo Conference. The League thanks you all for your continued support of the brave trainers who were capable of providing such a grand spectacle for you throughout the past week. We hope to see you in a week's time for the Indigo Conference.

The marching band started playing the League theme after the President finished speaking, and all of the participants proceeded to exit the stadium in lines that were led by me and the other members of the top four. From there, I rushed to the teleport platform, where I had arranged for my parents, Sheila, Chris, and Keith to meet. When I arrived, I found my parents and Sheila waiting. The crowd was already starting to build up in the area, and I wanted to leave as soon as possible to avoid the rush. We waited for a couple more minutes before Keith and Chris finally arrived, and then we teleported to Viridian City.

Over lunch, I told my parents what I intended to do next. Instead of proceeding directly to Fuchsia City, I decided that I would challenge the Dojo a third time and then travel to the eastern side of Kanto to visit coastal cities such as Lavender or Azul. I did not know how long it would take, but I wanted to see other parts of the countryside. It would also be nice to focus on something other than actively preparing for the next gym, even though we would continue to train adamantly.

I also learned at lunch that Sheila would be staying for a little more than two weeks before catching a plane back to Hoenn. She said that plane tickets were more expensive this close to the JIC and IC, and that they only started to decrease in price after the tournaments ended. Knowing that, I decided to postpone my departure until after she had left.

The postponement of my leave not only allowed me to spend time with Sheila, but it also gave me and my pokemon a much-earned vacation. After lunch, Chris bid us farewell to continue on, and I coordinated with Champion Volker via my PokeDex a date for our training session. Since I wanted some downtime for my team first, I decided to leave the day after Sheila left.

After a day had passed, I found myself at my uncle's old preserve. I was standing in front of all of my pokemon who had just finished consuming two Miltank. "Alright, everyone. We have a few weeks before we head out. From now until then, you are all free to do what you wish, provided you do not wreak havoc. Consider this a vacation. If you want some space, you can have it; just be back in a week and a half.

"If you want, Ceto, I will release you in the closest river, and you can go from there. I will pick you up from the same place in a week and a half. If any of you want to stay, I will not be leaving. Please, everyone, do not get into trouble if you go; I will not be able to rectify any bad situations with humans that you create. That goes especially for you, Gilles." I said, and Gilles cackled. "I'm giving you all a fair amount of freedom, so please do not make me regret it. Those of you who want to leave can do so now."

When I finished, Gilles flew over to me and passed an intangible hand through mine, and I was surprised to feel some resistance. Then he cackled and floated away. None of my other pokemon decided to leave except for Ceto. When I asked Ceto if she wanted me to deposit her in a stream, she nodded, so I walked alone with her to a river and bid her farewell for the time being. When I returned to the main clearing near the ruined building at Ray's Breeding Grounds over an hour later, I found Azrael, Rufus, and Dante waiting for me.

"So you all want to stay, then," I asked. Rufus responded by bounding over to my side with a yip. Dante only strolled over to me while projecting into my mind the words, J'Kun, my skills are best put to use by your side. I see no use in wandering about aimlessly for a week and a half.

Azrael simply huffed and walked over to my side. He then looked me in the eye and I received a feeling of protectiveness before Dante said, J'Kun, the Earth Wyrm wishes to stay with you, but he wishes to remain here. I nodded and looked at Azrael, who nuzzled my face with an internal rumble, and smiled.

Sheila and Keith, who had accompanied me to the preserve, remarked that a vacation was a good idea before giving their own pokemon the same option. However, Keith and Sheila both told their pokemon to stay either near or within the PokeWall, which to be honest was not that much of a limitation. The bordered preserve was 1,500 acres, which gave the pokemon ample room to wander and allowed wild pokemon to coexist.

Ever since I bought back my uncle's land, I had been carrying out research in my spare time about the PokeWall to better understand how it works and how I would need to repair it. Luckily, only one small section of the wall was destroyed, so it would be less expensive than replacing the entire structure. However, I was thoroughly taken aback when I found out just how expensive it really was. I would have to pay several tens of thousands of Pokebucks just to fix the one wall section.

I learned that the wall emits a force in tune with the pokeballs inserted into its system, which prevents the pokemon from approaching within a certain distance of the walls. The force grows exponentially as they move closer, pushing them back, and if they try to attack the walls, the PokeWall uses their pokeball to immediately teleport them away. The force extends into the air and underground to a distance of about a mile and a half, and it connects with the rest of the walls to form a cage with an invisible barrier.

Since the forces were only in tune with the pokemon whose pokeballs were inserted into the PokeWall's system, other pokemon could enter and leave by jumping over its ten foot walls or burrowing under them. The walls themselves consisted of fifteen-foot-tall pillars placed fifteen feet apart and linked by ten-foot-tall chain-link-esque, titanium weave fencing. This gave the pokemon inside the illusion that they were in the wild, and it allowed them to hunt while simultaneously ensuring that they could not escape.

Somehow Kira had managed to overcome the enormous amount of force against her, as well as the teleportation failsafe, in order to reach the wall and charge through it. However, I was not afraid of that happening in the future since I doubted we would be keeping monsters like her caged in the preserve.

Of Keith's team, only his Luxray, Luke, and his Lucario, Iko, remained. Of Sheila's team, only Kara and Shade remained, though Kara followed Azrael's example. Interestingly enough, Sheila's team was much different than I had remembered it. She had acquired a Breloom, which was a bipedal kangaroo-like pokemon with a large mushroom cap and hard bones clustered on its tail. She introduced me to the Breloom, whose name was Thomas, and it regarded me curiously before bouncing off. Conversely, Charlie and Lady were missing from her team.

I asked Sheila about Charlie and Lady, and her face grew pale. "Charlie… he's gone now. In my last battle at the Junior Ever Grande Conference, my opponent used a Blastoise and…" As Sheila spoke, her eyes watered and I cut her off with a hug. She only sobbed for a couple seconds before continuing. "I did not tell you because I did not want you to worry about me and be distracted from the tournament. I understand that battling is hazardous, and that losing a pokemon is something most trainers have to deal with, but… It hurts. I know now why my sister stopped."

I realized that Sheila's pokemon's death might have had something to do with her shift in thinking, and I mentally remarked that losing a pokemon really does change people. "I understand," is all I could say beyond expressing my condolences; it was not something that words can fix.

"As for Lady," Sheila said, wiping her eyes. "I let her go. I did not want to risk her life in battle, and my last gym challenge solidified my choice. Lady almost died then, and I know that she would not last in the higher levels of the league. So I gave her the option of staying with me or my family as a non-battler or returning to the wild, and she picked the wild. There's not much more to say past that." I nodded. It seemed like she had had a rough time since leaving, and she had changed. Hopefully, it was for the better.

For the remainder of the day, we all lounged in the sun with our pokemon and talked. During that time, I noticed that Sheila's interactions with me seemed strained. It was as if she was holding something back, and it was subtle. I chose not to push her for an answer, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the night at the Spirit's Glory.

Dante and Shade, on the other hand, were hitting it off quite well. They held a pseudo fight that looked to me more like an opportunity for each of them to show off their skills than an actual fight. It was full of teleportation and almost dance-like movements. Afterwards, Dante walked beside Shade's floating form into the forest and they did not return until three hours later. When Dante finally arrived, I raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Dante… So, you and Shade are pretty cozy now. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you stayed in order to spend time with her."

Then I am happy that you know better, J'Kun. The maiden and I simply took a stroll amongst the trees and conversed.

I was slightly surprised by Dante's quip and chuckled. "Well I'm happy that you're getting along with her now. How is she?" I asked.

Dante's eyes glowed green and he said, The maiden is wonderful. Her beauty is surpassed by none and her psychic artistry is both graceful and powerful.

"I meant how is she doing, Dante," I said, deadpan.

…Oh. She is doing well. She likes Sheila and says that she is a good trainer.

I only smiled in response as Dante looked away and his red chest and back horn glowed slightly. I looked over to Sheila and saw her looking over to me as well. I noticed then that Shade's red chest horn was glowing slightly as well, and concluded that it was a show of embarrassment.

I leaned back onto Azrael's forearm with a chuckle and enjoyed the rest of the day.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

For the next few days Sheila, Keith, and I took it easy. I discussed with my parents some of the expenses of renovating the preserve and a plausible long-term plan for starting the venture. At the moment, all I needed to do was catch pokemon to populate the business. My father informed me that he was talking with a bank about a loan to repair the wall, and after he received the loan, fixed the wall, and built some stables, he would start renting out space in the PokeWall.

Unlike most other stables, the PokeWall would give Rapidash and Ponyta vast amounts of space to run, and they could be recalled to their pokeballs easily. Having that to offer meant that there would be a higher demand for his stables and that he could charge more.

In the short term, my father planned to have the wall fixed and the business started in a month's time. In the long term, he could perhaps rekindle his racing steed industry and regain his lost prestige. Additionally, breeding Houndour would add another dimension to the business. If I progressed into the upper echelons of the League with Rufus, a demand for his offspring would be generated. Before I left home, my parents and I decided on a name for our enterprise: MacAfees' Infernal Competitors.

I also contacted the Saffron City gym to ask about my ghost problem. Unfortunately, they could not offer me any help beyond directing me to Lavender Town, where there is a long history and culture centered on paranormal studies. Since my particular problem was so rare, there was little to no information on how to deal with it, as well as no information on what the doll actually was. All I knew was that, historically, accounts by people involving a stalker ghost doll ended with them being driven mad or being killed. For now, all I could do was keep Rufus by me at night until I could visit Lavender Town.

On the fourth day in Viridian, I flew with Azrael on a hunt, and found that it was very difficult to use a bow while riding on his back. It was even more difficult to find the arrow if it missed its target, and by the end of the hunting trip, I had lost five arrows. Instead of feeling down about it, thought, I was happy for the time I had spent unpressured with Azrael. After he had eaten his fill, we returned to the future site of the MacAfees' Infernal Competitors, where Sheila and Keith were lounging.

Upon my descent, I noticed Sheila look at me, and then at the sky dreamily. A thought formed in my mind and I told Azrael to hold on while I ran over to her. "Hey, Sheila. I couldn't help but notice you watching us. Have you flown much?"

Sheila shook her head and said, "Only on our way into Vermillion after Alex attacked us that night. It looks fun."

"It really is. It's amazing. How would you like a ride?" I asked, hoping that I could ease the tension that I had been feeling between us.

"What?" Sheila asked, surprised. "I don't know… Is Azrael okay with it?"

"Sure he is! He loves to fly, anyway, so I'm sure he won't have a problem with it." I said enthusiastically.

"Alright!" Sheila exclaimed and stood up. She walked over to Azrael and looked up to the saddle. "I'm not going alone, am I?" Sheila asked.

"Nope," I replied. "How else am I going to direct him?"

"Well, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of room," she said stoically.

I looked up and saw that there was, indeed, little room. Most Garchomp are difficult to ride because their dorsal fin is located in the spot where a saddle would be placed, but Azrael was large enough that I could sit in front of the dorsal fin comfortably. The saddle, however, would have difficulty creating a normal passenger seat on Azrael. "Hmm. I did not think about that. Well… I guess we could use the same seat, then… If you are alright with it, that is." I said hesitantly. "I would much rather you not go alone."

Sheila looked hesitant and nervous as well, but spent little time thinking about it before she replied, "Let's try together…"

"Alright. Don't worry; it'll be fun," I said, before climbing up into Azrael's saddle. Then I reached down for Sheila's hand, which she eagerly gave, and pulled her up in front of me. With her back against my chest, I became acutely aware of our positioning and immediately turned red. Luckily, Sheila could not see my face, and I initiated the saddle's binding function.

The leather wrapped around both of our legs and our torsos as if we were one large person, pulling us closer together. As a result, my face was pressed against Sheila's hair for moment before I leaned back, and I noted that she smelled like citrus berries. "W-where should I hold on?" Sheila asked, having to clear her throat after her voice cracked.

I looked over her shoulder, took her hands, and placed them over the forward-most handholds so that she was as flat against Azrael's back as possible. Next, in order to create some room between us such that it was not as awkward, I grabbed the back-most handholds, and I said, "Alright, he ascends pretty fast, so hold on tight."

Sheila nodded and I looked over to see Keith giving me a thumbs-up and a goofy grin. My ears heated up, I leaned down against Sheila's back, and I said, "Azrael, to the sky!" Azrael tensed, and then shot up into the heavens with a might jump and a few flaps of his wings. The air screamed in my ears, but I quickly realized that the screaming was actually coming from Sheila. I could not help it; I started laughing, and Azrael rumbled beneath us as well.

It was not until we had leveled out that Sheila stopped yelling, though I could feel her breathing heavily. "I told you he ascends quickly," I said humorously.

"Uh-huh," replied Sheila, still clutching to Azrael for dear life.

I laughed more and said, "You can relax, Sheila. We've finished ascending."

Sheila slowly looked up and around while continuing to hold onto the straps. After a few minutes of Azrael's melodic wing flapping, she finally relaxed and sat up. The forest below was a cloud of green, and a flock of Pidgey hurried to put as much distance between themselves and us when we grew too close.

"Wow…" remarked Sheila. "It's so beautiful up here."

"Yeah…" I said, leaning back and feeling the wind on my face.

"Azrael, you are magnificent," Sheila said, eliciting a contented rumble from the dragon. Then she leaned back into me and we flew on. By the time we landed, the sun was retreating over the horizon and Keith had already departed.

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On the second of July, I found myself at the airport once again to bid Sheila farewell. The past couple of weeks were roughly uneventful. Beyond my father receiving the loan, BioTech starting to repair the fence, and Keith leaving to return home, not much was worth noting. I was plagued at night by nightmares, but the creepy doll never appeared again. Between Sheila and I, there continued to linger the mysterious tension, and it intensified up until the day that her plane was scheduled to leave. Unlike last time, I walked Sheila into the airport.

I stayed with Sheila until we stopped outside of the security gate. People hurried by all around us, making their way to various gates to various planes leading to various places. Their clamor was indistinct and unimportant as I gazed at Sheila, who looked right back at me hopefully. Once again, we found ourselves staring at each other with Sheila's departure imminent, and I brought her into a final firm embrace. Our hold lasted over a minute while I struggled to find the words that adequately expressed how I felt.

Unfortunately, the words never came. However, they never needed to, for after I felt Sheila's grip on me loosen and saw her move away, she immediately leaned back in and placed her lips on mine. While I was having trouble voicing my feelings before, now my mind only blanked in surprise. Through shocked, open eyes, I saw that Sheila's eyes were clenched tightly, as if she had steeled herself before taking a mental leap. The only sensations I felt were Sheila's lips on mine and my heart beating erratically in my chest.

So unprepared to face my feelings toward Sheila was I that I could only stand petrified at her touch. So unresponsive was I to her courageous shot in the dark that she retreated from the kiss soon after with fear and sadness in her eyes. "Zachariah, I… I'm sorry," she stuttered, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "I wanted to… I mean, I shouldn't have-"

Sheila was not able to finish her sentence, for when I saw the despairing look in her eyes, reality shifted into focus. My repressed feelings for her flared to the forefront of my mind and overwhelmed any inhibition that would dare stop them, like a tidal wave upon a sandcastle. Before Sheila could finish her sentence, I pulled her back to me and kissed her passionately, cradling her cheek in my palm.

The passion with which our lips met for the second time was lit like a powerful inferno, and for several transient minutes, we were lost in the fire. When it subsided and our lips finally parted, our chests rose and fell heavily. Sheila's eyes fluttered and her cheeks flushed as she smiled up at me. "I need to go now, Zachariah," she said, regretfully, and my heart sank.

I nodded, but we continued to stand in our embrace, gazing at one another for another few minutes before Sheila finally moved backwards. Our arms slid along each other until her hands grasped mine. "Stay in touch," she told me. "I'll return to Kanto eventually." Then she moved further back and her hands released mine.

"Goodbye, Sheila," I said with a sad smile, which she returned. Then she walked through the gate to security check-in, leaving me standing alone. I vaguely noticed a few people looking at me out of the corner of my eye, but they might as well have been ghosts to me. Though Sheila was gone, my heart soared and led me out of the airport, through the subway and ephemeral masses, and outside of city limits. Once I left the restricted flying zones, I released Azrael and allowed my heart to literally take flight atop his powerful shoulders.

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It was early the next day, and I waited patiently with my pokemon for Champion Volker to arrive at the preserve. It was 7:00 in the morning and I did not intend to be late. Suddenly, Rufus' ears twitched and he looked up. A little while later, I heard the sound of heavy flapping before Volker's Dragonite appeared over the trees. It landed about a hundred feet away and the Champion hopped down, proceeding towards me. It was uncannily similar to the first time he met with me.

When he reached me, he held out his hand. "MacAfee. Congratulations once again on your victory." I took his hand and thanked him. "Hmm, you know, you are rapidly becoming the most prevalent junior trainer around. I don't think I see any other junior trainer as often."

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing," I said with a laugh. "It seems I have a knack for finding trouble."

"Don't be so sure about that. It's true that you have found some less-than-enjoyable situations. However, you have influenced the outcomes of those situations in a positive way. You have done a very good job in serving Kanto," Volker commended. "Now, on to the topic of your prize as the JIC Champion. One thing I will do today is instruct your pokemon on the proper use of hyper beams. Beyond that, I give you the opportunity to direct the focus of our training."

My mind flooded with different ideas. I stood speechless as I attempted to sort them out. After a minute, Volker let out a laugh and said, "How about we focus on coordinating the hyper beam training first, and then you can tell me what you want to learn?" I nodded. "Alright, then. Have you taught the technique to any of your pokemon yet? If not, have you thought about to whom you want to teach it?"

"I taught it to Azrael and Rufus," I told him.

"Would you tell me why you chose those particular pokemon," the Champion asked.

"Well, my Haunter cannot learn it yet. My Gallade has a wide range of different types of attacks and can teleport closer to his foes, so he does not need it as much. My Seadra is already very effective at long range, even if it is with limited types of attacks," I explained. "My Garchomp has a couple long-range attacks, but they are not nearly as effective as his short-range attacks. I believe that he needs to be able to attack from a distance effectively, which made him an ideal candidate. I chose Rufus because he does not have a large variety of move types, and he has a knack for long-range moves. They are not as effective as Ceto's, but strong nonetheless. I believe that he can make better use of it."

"It sounds like you have put quite a bit of thought into it," Volker said. "That's good. For the time being, Glemdrin and Tulvir will instruct your pokemon on the proper technique." Volker released his Charizard and then waved him and Glemdrin off. The two dragons proceeded across the clearing and Azrael and Rufus followed.

"Now, have you thought of anything you would like to learn today?" Volker asked.

"Well…" I replied, giving a small smile. "I wouldn't mind learning how to evolve Ceto…" I was completely prepared for any reprimand that would follow.

With a laugh, Champion Volker replied, "You should know better than to ask something like that."

"It was worth a try," I replied with a shrug.

"I suppose," Champion Volker responded amusedly. "Even if Ceto was worthy of such knowledge, part of the honor of possessing a Kingdra is solving that dilemma. However, since you show immense promise – don't think that Aoro is the only one who sees it – I will give you a hint." Volker's expression became serious and I focused all of my attention on what he was about to say. "Kingdra are not raised; they are chosen. That is all I will give you. Now, what would you like to learn today?"

I mulled over the Champion's words for a few moments, and finding no resolution, I stowed them away. "Actually, from what I've learned with Aoro, power is not everything in a fight. Granted, power can go a long way, but its effects can be avoided through diversion, absorption, or countering. I'm sure you know that quite well. What I want to know is what sets you apart from the rest besides having a team of dragons? How do you train differently than others? How were you able to secure the position of Champion?"

"Ah, MacAfee," Volker mused. "If you are asking me to divulge my training secrets, then I'll have to decline. However, I'm sure that that is not what you meant. If it is wisdom you desire, then you shall have it. Follow me." With that, Volker walked to the center of the clearing and sat down, cross-legged. He motioned for me to do the same, and I obeyed, noting the distant sound of roaring and explosions.

"Tell me, what do you see as the purpose of the League?" Volker asked me.

"Its purpose is to protect; to secure civilization from the hostile pokemon world," I replied.

"No doubt you've taken Aoro's lessons to heart. That is good. However, there is more to it than that. The fact of the matter is that humans are not much different than pokemon. What sets us apart is our ingenuity. Combined with our tendency towards civilization and our voracious appetite for technological improvement, this difference has allowed us to carve out a place for ourselves in this world.

"We are those who are strong enough to protect not only the human race, but also the balance of power between humans and pokemon. Allowed to run unfettered, the human race would either bring about its own destruction by way of inciting the pokemon who inhabit this land and forcing them to evolve in order to defend themselves, or by killing each other. The League is responsible for making sure that the former does not happen. We protect the balance; not just human civilization.

"As for how someone climbs the ranks, you need to see the League for its operational function. The League is an institutionalized outlet for the development of leaders. Leaders of our race, that is. By choosing to be a trainer, one must travel all over the country, becoming acquainted with its cities. One must also learn how to lead, by developing a team and making it stronger. The few who make it to League officer positions are excellent leaders and also somewhat excellent politicians. The people know us and respect us for our service.

"I personally served in the Ace Trainer Corp Special Forces after I conquered all of the gyms. That is where I made my mark and developed practical strength and knowledge of this country. Those who make it to this position have earned it by being the one and only absolute exceptional trainer in one's generation. How you become that exception is on you. You need to set yourself apart from everyone else absolutely. Do you have any questions?"

After raptly listening to what he said, I replied, "You've given me much to think about. For instance, how does the civilian government coexist with the League? I can think of multiple scenarios immediately in which each's individual interests would clash."

"That, MacAfee, is the world of politics," said Volker, with a sigh. "As I said before, the officers of the League are also politicians. The civilian government is supposed to ensure that humans don't kill each other, and the League at least holds a small amount of influence in that matter. However, competing interests have always defined the human race, and it is not something that will ever change. It is reality."

"I see," I responded, deep in thought. "On a separate note, is there anything you can tell me about the Meteors or the illegal stimulant that's been changing pokemon into horrid monsters?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know about this illegal stimulant, but the Meteors… Let's just say that much of it is classified from the general public. For the past few weeks they have been particularly quiet, but suffice it to say, they aren't merely a small terrorist organization. Ace Trainer Corps has been dealing with them for the most part, which is why not much is known, but be on the lookout for them. Is there anything else?"

After a few minutes of thought, I said, "Now, I know that you said that you will not reveal any secrets, but is there anything you can teach me regarding how to train?"

"Ha! You're determined, MacAfee; I like that. In the last 36 years of my reign as Champion, only two other junior trainers have asked for wisdom. The vast majority of the JIC champions want me to teach them how to make their attacks stronger, somehow ignoring the fact that it cannot be done in one day.

"For those of you who show such genuine out-of-the-box thinking, I have a gift. This is TM17; Protect. This is a simple move that many people overlook for some reason. For the rest of the day, I will teach all of your pokemon its theoretical function. Your duty will be to train them to use it effectively."

Volker stood up, retrieved a disk from within his jacket, and handed it to me. "Give it to all of your pokemon. It has unlimited uses." I obeyed, and then he took the TM back. "Now, I know some of your pokemon can create light screens or reflecting barriers, but Protect is a bit different. It takes much more energy to maintain the technique than light screen or reflect, but unlike either of them, it cannot be broken, except by a couple special techniques. The trick to using it effectively is to develop fast reflexes so that you only use it for short periods of time. After today, you will need to develop those reflexes in your pokemon, as well as stamina, which you can do so simply by having them use it for extended periods of time until they are too fatigued to continue."

With that said, Volker called Tulvir and Glemdrin back, and proceeded to instruct my pokemon on its usage. At first, Ceto could hold the move for the longest amount of time – thirty seconds – while Tullius, who actively taught her how to use it, could hold it for thirty minutes, according to Volker. It was touching to see him teach his daughter, and she relished that valuable time.

By the end of the day, my pokemon had developed a rudimentary knowledge of protect and hyper beam. Before Champion Volker left, he said to me, "Don't let up, MacAfee. You are turning heads with your achievements, but you have to continue to improve. You're one of the few trainers these days to maintain an undefeated record, which shows that you have potential to achieve great things. Remember, while it is normal for a trainer to lose battles, it is not unheard of for a trainer to keep an undefeated record through all of the gyms. I, for instance, never lost a gym challenge. If you can do that, then you will truly have shown yourself to be an exceptional trainer. However, don't think that you are invincible; there is still a large skill gap between gym badges and the Elite 4. For the time being, contemplate what I've told you and focus on training. Until next time, MacAfee."

After the Champion finished speaking, he took off into the sky with Glemdrin, and before long, he disappeared from sight.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The next morning I was completely packed and ready to leave. I departed from my parents' house after bidding them farewell, and made my way to a psychic transporter. After arriving in Vermillion, I scheduled an appointment with the Fighting Dojo for the following day.

The dojo had not changed in aesthetic or atmosphere since the last time I had visited. It was dimly lit, and hand-drummers sat cross-legged against the far wall. I was greeted by the same herald as each time before, who announced my arrival and signaled me to approach the combat ring.

"The third challenge consists of another type of fighting; that of weapons combat. You may choose one of three: the staff, the sword, or the dagger. Of course all are made of wood. For you, the fight will end when either you or your opponent is knocked unconscious, scores a normally lethal hit, or forfeits. For your pokemon, it will be a straightforward battle. The challenge ends when either you or your pokemon is defeated or is triumphant. Now choose your weapon and take your position in the circle," the herald instructed.

I complied, choosing the dagger with a foot-long blade. Then I released Dante into the other circle. I soon met with my opponent, a man who looked to be a few years older than me wearing a black dobak with a red belt tied around his waist. He held a staff behind his back and bowed to me. I did the same out of respect, and then took a stance with the dagger held out in front of me.

Before the signal to start was given, and while my opponent took off the upper portion of his dobak, Dante's foe was revealed in a burst of light. The light coalesced into another Gallade, whose eyes glowed with anticipation and his blades extended in preparation for the match. It was obvious, really, that they would use a Gallade for this stage of the Dojo challenges; after all, they do have natural blades as weapons.

J'Kun, what is your command? I heard in my head.

"You know how you fight, Dante. Fight as if you were fighting yourself," I replied quickly. The signal was given to start and the drummers started pounding a stirring beat. My opponent immediately moved forward and jabbed the staff at me, which I sidestepped and moved forward. I was fast, and my training with Aoro had prepared me somewhat for this fight. Perhaps it was because of that training that I was not simply knocked out when he followed up with a diagonal hit, with the other end of the staff, to the side of my face, throwing me to the floor in a daze with the force of the blow.

I numbly rose to my feet and moved forward almost blindly. Due to my stupor, my opponent then swept my feet out from me, causing me to hit my head on the ground and further exasperate my torpor. I slowly rose again and vaguely made out the echoes of what sounded like metal clashing against metal. My opponent flourished his staff and ended with a defensive stance, beckoning me to make a move with a hand gesture. I snuck a look at the other ring to see Dante and the other Gallade engaged in a mix of teleportation and bladed strikes. Then I focused back on my opponent, finding him waiting impatiently.

Remembering Aoro's training, I lifted my arms to protect my head and moved in. The first strike hit my left forearm, which I hardly felt due to Aoro's conditioning. I continued to move forward, knowing that I would need to strike a vital spot since it was much more difficult to knock someone out with a dagger. Another strike from the staff and I felt Aoro's punch hit my right ribcage. I continued forward and lifted my foot above another attempted leg sweep while he moved backwards to match my progress. I quickened my pace forward and sidestepped to the right of another jab, bringing my left elbow forward to his face and landing my first hit.

The blow sent my opponent stumbling back, but I did not let up. I followed up with a diagonal upward slash at his neck, which he managed to dodge, and then reversed the swing, bringing it back down. Once again, the attack missed, but my opponent was on his heels. He lashed out with his staff once more, and I twisted to the side just in time to dodge it, which opened up a gap in his defense. Seeing his neck open and his body overextended gave me a rush of adrenaline, and I surged forward with the wooden blade.

My strike hit my adversary's neck with much more force than I had intended, sending him to his back while gasping for air. If the blade had been real, I would have certainly killed him. Since it was only made of wood, the martial artist would only suffer a bit of pain and loss of pride. As soon as he hit the ground, the arbitrator stopped the match and the drumming stopped.

My opponent was helped to his feet after a few minutes of wheezing on the ground, and I noticed a long bruise stretching across his neck. When he regained his composure, he bowed to me and I was declared the winner. With a smile on my face, I looked over to my pokemon and said, "That must have been fun for you, Dante."

Indeed, it was challenging, J'Kun. Though I wish I had more time to achieve victory over my adversary; it was only a matter of time. I am ashamed that I was not able to triumph over him in the time it took you to beat your opponent, but I would expect no less from my J'Kun.

"Don't sweat it, Dante. I knew that it would be a difficult match for you. And I'm really curious as to why you've ever called me J'Kun. What does it mean?" I asked. I never received an answer, as I was instructed to return him and then given a dagger within an intricate sheath.

"Congratulations, challenger," I was told. "You have passed the third Dojo challenge. As such, you are awarded the Dojo's ceremonial dagger in recognition of your achievement. Train hard and return here when you feel that you are ready. Be warned: the fourth stage is much more difficult. You will be fighting an experienced martial artist; not a student. Now, go." With a happy but dazed mind, I left the dojo and heard my PokeDex sounding a notification.

Yo Zach! I hope you don't plan on exploring the eastern seaboard without me. Let me know when you plan on arriving on Route 9. – Keith

I blinked with surprise and told Keith that I would be arriving in Cerulean in a few hours, and that I would be heading out immediately. In response, he told me to keep him updated on my arrival, and that he would meet me on Route 9.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I'm sending your GPS a personal marker from mine. See you soon, was the text I received when I informed Keith of my arrival on Route 9.

I opened up my map to find Keith's locational marker already on Route 9. With a shrug, I released Azrael and took to the skies. Within minutes, I had caught up to him and landed. "Wow. You make good time," he said. "I only sent that message seven minutes ago."

"Azrael's quite the flier," I replied, earning me a proud look from my dragon. "So, Keith, why do you want to come with me?"

"Oh, don't be so distrustful. I want to see the eastern coast of Kanto. You're heading there already, so I can have company. The fact that you are the strongest trainer in Kanto with less than eight badges has nothing to do with it," Keith said with a wink.

"…Fine. But I'm going at my own pace," I responded, giving in.

"Oh no; don't think I'm trying to push you. It's not like you have an angry creepy ghost stalking you or anything. Why would we want to get to Lavender Town quickly?"

"I've been fine until now and Rufus is capable of handling it," I said, irritated. I could tell that Keith's sarcasm was not going to grow on me.

"If you say so, Zach. Just sayin', it probably wouldn't hurt to get to Lavender at a faster pace than a mosey."

"Look, Keith, I have a system. I usually run drills in the morning, afternoon, and evening for two hours each, I spend the time between each session traveling and/or hunting. However, since I am in somewhat more of a rush than usual, I will only be holding two sessions every day; in the morning and in the evening. That gives us all day to travel. Is that fine with you?" I said, giving the last sentence a more sarcastic tone.

"Oh, whatever's fine with you, champ," he replied mockingly. "I'm in no personal rush. But if I push you along faster, perhaps I could get you to finish all of the gyms before next year's JIC. I'm pretty sure I could win if you weren't competing."

"Ha!" I exclaimed. "I have a whole year to win three badges. I don't think I will have a problem. Though I would have expected better of you than to postpone earning the rest of your badges just to take a gold medal from some newbies," I said back, mockingly.

"Easy for you to say, champ. You've already got that gold medal. But hey, that doesn't mean much to you now, does it? After all, you won it from some newbies," he laughed. He continued to laugh, for I had nothing to wittily retort. "Ah, don't sweat it, Zach. I have a feeling this is going to be a fun trip!" he said enthusiastically with a smile on his face.

"For some reason, I'm getting the opposite feeling," I said with a sigh.

"Oh don't be like that," Keith replied. "Consider this an opportunity to learn how to improve your game."

"I'm sure you have much to offer," I said sarcastically. "But I'm pretty sure that I don't need help improving my training."

"Not with pokemon, you workaholic; with women," Keith said conspiringly.

"Oh," I said, starting to turn red. "I don't need any help on that front."

"Oh sure it isn't, Mr. Suave. And I'm sure you've totally made lots of progress with Sheila, who's obviously in to you."

"For your information, there has been progress between us. And what do you mean 'obviously'?" I asked, annoyed.

"Oh really?" he said, over-dramatizing his curiosity. "And, come on, it's painfully obvious that she digs you. So what do you mean by progress? Did you hold her hand or something?"

"No! Before she left, we kissed!" I yelled, exasperated.

"Alright, calm down," Keith said as Azrael lifted his lip threateningly. "I'm just pushin' your buttons. But congrats on that; she seems like a nice girl. Though I seriously think you could use some pointers if you really couldn't tell that she's in to you."

"I'll take your advice into consideration if I ever want a one-night-stand with her," I said sarcastically.

"Ooh, touché. Well, whenever you want it, all you gotta do is ask," said Keith, in good spirits.

"Duly noted," I said, and then took some time to let out my pokemon. It was a sunny day and my pokemon enjoyed being back on the road again. After a couple hours, my PokeDex chimed, alerting me that I had received a new message.

Hi, Zachariah. I hope all is well. I recall you said that today you would be heading out again? I know how you are, but be careful. How was your day with the Champion? It must have been exciting! I would like it if you could respond somewhat quickly, but I get how it is when you're training and when you're off the grid. I can't guarantee mine will be any quicker, since I'm already out on Route 118 headed for Fortree City, so I'll simply look forward to your responses. – Sheila

I responded immediately. Hi, Sheila. We have just begun traveling on Route 9. And by 'we', I mean Keith and I. He decided he would come along for some reason, and I can't seem to convince him otherwise. Champion Volker was amazing. He taught my pokemon the protect move and also taught me about the purpose of the League. As far as response time, I'm fairly close to Cerulean at the moment, so I still have coverage, and I'm guessing that it's the same for you. I'll do my best to respond quickly, and I hope that your travels are also well. – Zachariah

As I was typing in the message, Keith looked over my shoulder and asked, "Ooh, is that Sheila? Whatcha sayin'? Need any advice?"

I pushed him away and said, "I don't need any advice! Cut it out!" Keith only laughed and petted his Luxray, who walked beside him nonchalantly.

By the time night was upon us, we had made camp and were already a quarter of the way through our first training session. Since we would go to bed soon after, I decided to make the session a mix between stamina with protect, teleportation with Dante, and a laid back game of bludgeon tag. During the game, Keith observed my team and said, "Whoa, dude. That's hardcore. What if they hurt each other?"

"Worst case scenario is that I give one of them a potion. Dante is fairly proficient with healing for everything else," I replied. Keith had simply shrugged and returned to the campsite.

After the session, I hunted for dinner. Having Dante around made hunting significantly easier. He could expand his consciousness to locate pokemon in a quarter-mile radius, which negated the need to track most of the time, and thus cut the time we needed to hunt down to a small fraction of the time we were accustomed to. Of course, I would occasionally take the time to track in order to relax and/or separate myself from Keith.

Also helping to make hunting more expedient than ever was the fact that I had recently switched from using magnetic strips on my belt to a bandolier for holding my pokeballs. An added upside was that I could store arrow cartridges on it as well, and they were easy to access. Lastly, I could clip my bow to a latch on the back of it. All in all, hunting was significantly easier and more efficient than ever, allowing me to spend more time traveling and less time hunting when I wanted to focus on traveling.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Within the first week, we made a lot of progress along Route 9. It was mountainous, and therefore slower to traverse than normal, but our pace was quick. In the mornings, I would hold generic training drills to develop speed, strength, and reflexes. In the evenings, I would hold stamina, toughness, and sparring practices so that my pokemon could sleep off their fatigue.

Keith showed similar training methods, but he focused on sparring. His Crobat would spar with his Talonflame in the air, and his Luxray, Lucario, Wartortle, and Weavile would spar together on the ground. His training methods were less violent than mine, but they had made him an excellent trainer thus far.

In the beginning of our journey together, Azrael had an adverse reaction to Keith's Weavile, Nel. He apparently still harbored bad memories of the Sneasel who tried to kill him when he was a Gible. I still kept that Sneasel's claw… However, Azrael was able to keep from attacking the Weavile after I assured him that she did not mean him any harm. Other than them, Dante and Keith's Lucario Iko took a liking to each other. Ceto and his Wartortle Shin immediately took a liking to each other, and Rufus seemed to get along well with Nel.

It was also immediately apparent that my pokemon were on a different level than Keith's. During the night sessions, when I would work with Rufus on manipulating his body through the darkness, I found out that Keith's Weavile had no training whatsoever in that area. It was not as though Keith was a bad trainer; he had simply not considered the applications of a dark pokemon's inherent abilities. I guess the difference is that I had both a ghost pokemon and a dark pokemon, and I had thought a lot about how their abilities worked.

Keith's strength laid in his tactics. Like me, he was adept at reading situations in battles and then adapting to them. It was with those skills that his pokemon were able to beat mine in capture the baton.

We agreed beforehand that we could give orders to our pokemon if we wanted, and Keith exercised that privilege with impunity. From the beginning of the game, Azrael summoned a thick sandstorm as usual while keeping the baton. On Keith's side, Skye, his Talonflame, and Fritz, his Crobat, took to the sky and started passing the baton between themselves. The two were incredibly fast, and Gilles could not catch either of them.

While Dante teleported into the air multiple times to attempt to grab the baton, the fliers would always avoid him and he would have to teleport back down to the ground. Ceto, as per usual, stood guard at the outskirts of the sandstorm, and Rufus shot flames into the sky at Fritz and Skye to attempt to influence their flight directions.

On the ground, Luke, Nel, and Shin surrounded Ceto and forced her to figuratively take a knee. Soon after, Skye sent in a powerful whirlwind which disrupted the sandstorm for a moment, revealing to Keith that Azrael was underground. Keith then ordered his Crobat to send star-like rays at the concealed dragon. After a few attacks, Azrael emerged in order to make the attacks stop, and Keith's pokemon were upon him the next moment.

Azrael was able to launch Luke away, and Rufus had returned to defend the baton carrier from Iko, but Nel was able to get in close with a quick attack. After that, she launched a powerful uppercut to Azrael's jaw, in which he was holding the baton. Immediately after, her claw shifted out of reality in order to pass through his jaw and grab the baton, forcing it into the same plane of existence that her incorporeal hand inhabited. With her thief technique successfully carried out, and a quick backflip later, Nel created space between herself and Azrael and landed with the baton held proudly before her.

My pokemon and I were shocked, while Keith cheered for his pokemon. My team left the field grumpily and sulked for a few minutes. I did not allow that to continue for long, though, and held a short drilling session to allow them to blow off some steam. Afterwards, I took Azrael on a hunt.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Besides our quickly-fallen-into routine of training, traveling, and hunting, little distracted Keith and I from our journey across Route 9. The little that distracted us, however, was enough to keep us on edge the entire time. From the very first night, when my nightmares started returning again, to the end of the first week when my ghost stalker started to grow bold, I was highly aware of its presence. Though I could not see it, the ghost made its presence known through my dreams.

My bad dreams grew progressively worse over the week, culminating in yet another injurious manifestation of the ghost's wrath – this time as a trio of scars across my left calf. On the subsequent night, the ghost had the senselessness and foolishness motivated by an unknown, and no doubt blind, impetus to reveal itself once again.

This time, the ghost was not given any quarter. I was awoken by both Rufus and Gilles snarling and screeching respectively, and by the time I could get my bearings, they had engaged the ghost in combat. However, with the implied two-sidedness of 'combat', the word might be somewhat inaccurate; it was more like a feeding frenzy. I looked up to see Rufus viciously shaking the doll and Gilles sending bolt after bolt of shadowy energy at the doll while it frantically scratched Rufus' muzzle.

The baritone laughing was replaced by a higher-pitched shrieking, and the frenzy ended with Gilles grabbing ahold of the doll with his claws and pulling away from Rufus. The tug of war did not last long, as the doll soon tore in half, leaving its head and upper torso in Gilles' claws. Gilles then wasted no time in shredding the ghost in a flurry of ghost claws.

The shrieks died down at last, leaving the camp in an eerie stillness. "Well thank the Legendaries that's over!" came the relieved voice of Keith. All of our pokemon were standing alert, obviously perturbed by the sudden outburst, but Rufus simply pranced into my tent and curled up as if nothing had happened. The body of the doll had dissipated, and Gilles flew around cackling in the night air.

Thanks to Rufus and Gilles, I had a night of quality sleep for the first time in several weeks. Unfortunately, however, it was not over. For in two weeks' time, after we had reached the coast and turned south to pass around the eastern side of the Rock Tunnel along Route 10, my nightmares returned with a vengeance. The ghost never physically manifested again, but I would see glowing red eyes in the woods around us at night, and I would occasionally hear its sadistic laughing in the night air.

To make matters worse, it started affecting me in different ways. I first felt the effects in an early morning training session. While I was sprinting alongside my pokemon, my calf erupted in a fiery burning that caused me to stumble and fall. After a few minutes of agonizing pain, the burning died down and I was left in a cold sweat. My pokemon gathered around me with concern, but I only shrugged it off since there was nothing I could do about it.

Keith was not awake when that happened, so I decided not to inform him of it. I hoped that it would not happen again before we reached Lavender. By that time, we were only about a week away, so I thought that it was an acceptable gamble. Despite fate having a tendency to throw such gambles back in my face, I was luckily able to avoid a catastrophic incident by the time we reached our destination.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

One thing that never changed throughout my travels is my appreciation for a comfortable bed and a warm shower. The sight of the Pokemon Centers always made me happy because of that fact. So when I saw the PokeCenter pokeball billboard, I inwardly rejoiced and quickened my pace.

The Pokemon Center lay outside of the city's urban limit, and the lights of the city shone brightly beyond the building. In all the years since its foundation, the scope of Lavender Town had not grown much. Due to the dark nature of the town's culture and its unsettling ambience, it has remained in low demand for prospective migrants. Beyond the large cemeteries and extensive mausoleums, the people have developed a reputation for being eerie and unnerving. Furthermore, no other place in Kanto held such a concentrated interest in paranormal studies.

If I was going to find any answers to my ghost problem, it would be in Lavender Town. So the first source that I investigated after settling in to the Pokemon Center was the center's personnel. It was a fairly awkward conversation which began after I was informed of the current events. When I told the Nurse Perry that Keith and I had been out of touch with civilization for about a month, he said, "Well, the only things worth noting are the Meteor bombing of the Saffron City Route 5 ranger outpost a week ago, and the bill that was passed a week before which allows corporations to hire mercenary groups to protect their assets."

"Geez…" Keith and I said. Then I changed the topic. "Well, I'm sorry to bother you about it, but I'm visiting Lavender Town for a specific reason. Where would I go to learn about hauntings, curses, or types of ghosts?"

"Well," the Nurse Perry responded. "There are a plethora of soothsayers and fortune tellers who could tell you if you have negative spirits following you, if that's what you mean."

"Not really, sir," I said, shaking my head. "I know for a fact that I'm being followed and haunted. I just need to figure out how to get rid of it or how to deal with it."

"Is it a fact?" he stated, unemotionally.

"If you don't think I know what I'm talking about, then you can check the pokemon that I submitted for medical treatment. I have a Haunter, so I know what a ghost pokemon can do."

"My apologies, sir," he said sincerely. "We receive many people who think that their shadows are out to get them or something else. Usually those people have been out too long. If you are positive, then I think you can find some information at the League's research center." As he spoke, the Nurse Perry brought up a map on a smart screen behind him and traced the easiest path. "This is where it's located. I would suggest, though, that you make an appointment with a resident scholar, if it's a serious problem."

"Thank you, sir," I said, and then I walked to my room and called the research center. The soonest appointment I could make was in four days, and when I informed Keith of the news, he frowned.

"What are we going to do in this creepy-ass town for four days?" he asked.

"Well, one of the reasons why I came here was to actually experience the place. It may be creepy, but I want to see what it has to offer," I said.

"I guess that's fair enough…" Keith replied grudgingly. "Where do you want to go?"

"We could go to the Pokemon Tower," I said. The Pokemon Tower is a several-millennia-old, above-ground, stone mausoleum that supposedly holds the graves of the first champion and his pokemon.

"Right. Well, let's head out around noon tomorrow then. It's late now and I'm tired," Keith said.

"No problem. I'll see you in the morning, then. I'm going to bed now, as well," I replied.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The Pokemon Tower was much larger than I imagined, able to be seen from any point in Lavender Town, now that it was daytime. The stone tower had square holes for windows on every level, of which there appeared to be 25, and it appeared to be well-maintained. As we walked down the streets toward the large structure, there seemed to be a perpetual gloom about the air.

"It wouldn't hurt one or two of these people to smile occasionally," remarked Keith as he passed by yet another serious-looking man.

"I won't disagree…" was all I could say.

When we reached the entrance of the tower, there were no people around aside from some security personnel. Inside were above-ground stone sepulchers in varying sizes arranged in a rough grid, and walls divided each level into different sections. I noticed that each stone grave was perfectly kept, each age-old resting place looking as new as the day it was created. They were immaculate, despite the fact that no restrictions were placed on our desires to physically interact with the graves.

Aside from the graves, embedded in the walls were earthen suits of armor, and the walls themselves were intricately carved to show different pokemon. Included on the wall carvings was the shadow pokemon of legend, Giratina.

Legendary pokemon were called legendary for a reason. Legends have been told about them, whether true or false, to explain phenomena that ordinary pokemon and humans are incapable of causing. The tales about Giratina, for example, include an ancient feud between two other legendary entities and the shadow pokemon being banished to the ethereal realm for its transgressions.

If legendary pokemon do exist, then they keep their presences hidden from the world. Many people throughout history have claimed to have seen different legendary pokemon – in Kanto's population, the majority of accounts have included the three legendary birds, Moltres of the Flame, Articuno of the Glacier, and Zapdos of the Storm – but those accounts have never been publicly verified. Governmental knowledge of legendary pokemon is also a source of many theories of conspiracy, though many people believe those theorists to lack mental stability.

Nevertheless, if the legends were true, then it would only further vindicate the goals of the league, as described by Champion Volker. No doubt humans would not last very long against the wrath of such powerful beings, which is often compared to that of vengeful deities.

Deep in thought, I slowly walked among the preserved memorials amidst the vapors of incense burners. The smoke from the burners gave the inside of the tower a hazy atmosphere, which also restricted our vision. After half an hour, I was approached by an older woman who managed to sneak up on me without me noticing.

"Welcome to the tower, where souls of ages past seek solace. Are you here to pay your respects?" she asked, causing me and Keith to flinch with surprise.

"We are here to see the First's tomb," I replied after regaining my composure.

"You did not answer the question, lad," she said.

"Yes, we're here to pay our respects," Keith interjected, clearly unnerved by the woman and wanting to end our conversation as quickly as possible.

"To tread on this sacred site with lesser intensions is deplorable. See to it that you do not anger the spirits within these walls," she warned, looking at Keith sternly. Then she looked back to me and her brow furrowed. "You… You are marked with hatred and darkness. Please leave quickly when you are finished – the souls here do not need the pain of such hostile emotions – lest the guardians reject you."

With that, the older woman walked away. "The people here are so nice. I think I'll save up for a summer home here," muttered Keith sarcastically.

"I really need to get rid of this ghost," I sighed.

Twenty minutes later, in a back segment of the Pokemon Tower, we finally found the Tomb of the First. "Did that woman just hiss at you?" Keith asked, after yet another bizarre woman approached us. Though, instead of rambling about spirits, the woman actually hissed at me before scurrying away.

"I do believe she did, Keith," I confirmed. "I think the less time we spend here, the better. Oh, thank the Legendaries; I think we finally found it!"

The sepulcher was a single enormous stone edifice adorned with statues of a Dragonite and the Champion himself. The First Champion was adorned with a tunic, had a sword at his hip, and was looking forward with stone eyes.

Below the statues was an epitaph that read:

Here lies forever memorialized the first champion of the human race, Magnus Borallis. Together with the great Dragonite Adremmeloch, they united the warring Indigo nations against the hordes of the Great Flood and secured humanity's place alongside the pokemon of this earth, and thus established the grand league of pokemon and humans.

"With one pokemon, the Champion united all of Indigo… They must have been unimaginably strong," I murmured.

"Crazy, isn't it?" Keith replied. "And to think he remained undefeated all his life. I wonder…" Below the epitaph read, Lived: 843-990, Champion: 900-985. "Amazing…! He lived for 147 years… How is that even possible?"

"Some say his Adremmeloch bestowed upon him some of the longevity of its species," a haggardly feminine voice said behind us. Both of us whirled around to see another woman – this one older than the others – peering over our shoulders at the monument. "Others say that his unnaturally long lifespan was due to the strength that he had developed with the Dragon."

"What is it with you people and sneaking up on others?" Keith asked, exasperated.

"We move about unseen and unheard, as the spirits who inhabit this place do. It is not our fault that you cannot perceive us," she said with a smile.

"Ugh… That's debatable. But screw it," he replied.

The woman looked amused at that statement, but remained quiet, staring at us. I took one more look at the memorial and then walked away, the woman's creepy gaze fixed on my back the entire time.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"Mr. MacAfee, my name is Professor Sharpe," the scholar said to me, shaking my hand after I entered his office.

"Thank you for meeting with me, professor," I replied, taking a seat.

"No problem. What can I do for you?" he asked, clasping his hands in on the desk in front of him.

"I have a bit of a ghost problem and I was hoping that you could help me," I explained. "I've contacted the Saffron City gym, and they directed me here because not enough was known about my particular problem."

"I see. And you are certain it is a ghost problem?" he asked.

I pulled back my sleeves and showed him the burn scars on my wrists. "I'm positive, sir. This happened in my sleep. I have another similar injury on the back of my calf. I've seen the ghost twice, both incidents of which can be backed up by my travel companion who is currently staying at the Pokemon Center.

"The first time I saw it was when I was staying in the Indigo Plateau competition housing and it appeared on my bed, laughed at me, broke some mirrors, and then fell through the bed. The second time was along Route 9, and my Houndoom and Haunter attacked it. I thought that they killed it, given how the fight ended, but now my nightmares have become worse, and about a week ago, the scars on my calf, which I've assumed it has given me, burst into intense pain for a few minutes before going away completely."

The professor listened intently to what I was saying with a hand on his chin. "When it appeared, it looked like a doll that was two and a half feet tall, had horns on its head, a zippered mouth, and red glowing eyes. I see them in my nightmares, along with… other things. The gym told me that similar accounts involve the person being killed or going crazy. Can you help me?"

Professor Sharpe looked at me thoughtfully for a few more moments before replying. "Hmm. It seems as though it is malicious, if indeed it is a ghost. I vaguely remember something about doll-like ghosts from some old records, but I'll have to do a little research on it before I can say for sure. As far as it not dying when your pokemon attacked it, most ghosts are incredibly difficult to kill for good. In most cases, the method of truly killing a ghost is unique to its species, and they will simply come back after being "killed". For the moment, I don't have anything I can tell you, but here, write down your number and I will contact you as soon as I have something for you."

I thanked the professor and left. On my way, I received a message from Keith, who told me to get back as soon as possible. Curious as to what the matter could be, I hurried and arrived at the Pokemon Center ten minutes later. Keith was sitting on a couch in the lounge, and when he saw me, he said, "Wow, dude. Great timing. Did you find out anything?"

"Not yet," I replied. "The professor needs to do more research about the ghost before he can advise me on what to do about it. Why did you need me to hurry back?"

"Oh, right. Check this out," he said, and switched the channel on the T.V. to the news. It looked to be replaying an earlier story.

"– The Meteor who carried out the assassination is currently awaiting questioning. Our hearts go out to the family of Senator Ludiger, who was stabbed to death on the way to his car after a conference. While we are not sure if the assassination had anything to do with the PME bill, which was being discussed at the conference, we do know that Senator Ludiger was opposing the piece of legislation. While the country waits nervously to feel the effects of the assassination, there has been a call for a more proactive response by the Pokemon League. Joining us now is Aoro Craul, the gym leader of Pewter City, where the assassination took place."

The video changed frames to Aoro standing next to a reporter. "Leader Craul, could the League have anticipated such a drastic action against a member of parliament, and taken steps to prevent it?" the reporter asked.

Aoro looked visibly annoyed by the question, and replied, "I assure you that if we had any indication that any person was in danger, and if we had the ability to prevent it, we would have."

"Has the League made any significant progress in taking down the Meteors recently?" the reporter continued, unfazed by Aoro's irritation.

"The League has been carrying out operations against the Meteors for several months now, and the problem with the organization is that there does not seem to be a coherent exchange of information between cells. It's as if each cell has different goals, with different priorities. However, we have taken down multiple camps and thwarted multiple operations, and we will continue to do so. We are confident that the Meteor's days are numbered. No further comment."

From there the frames switched again, back to the news. "Geez, Keith. What is wrong with people nowadays?" I asked, rhetorically considering I had seen what Meteors could be like, and I did not really want to have a philosophical conversation on the morality of mankind. I started typing a message on my PokeDex as Keith replied.

"Beats me, dude, but it can't end well. Those Meteors need to be taken care of, though. Who knows what they are capable of."

"I know what they're capable of," I said, spitefully. "And you're right; it can't end well."

"Whoa, man. What's up with that?" Keith said, referring to my mood change.

"…Nothing. Let's figure out what we're doing next so we can stop thinking about this," I said, changing the subject. Before Keith replied, I finished writing the message, which was a letter of condolences to Kenneth Ludiger.

"Alright, then. Well, Azul City is farther south, so we can head along Route 12 to get there," said Keith.

I thought about that. To the west, the mountain range that we traversed wanes down into foothills as it progresses south. Beyond it lays the prairies which wrap around the foothills, meeting up with Route 13 after about 80 miles. Part of the reason why I wanted to travel to this side of Kanto was because of the potential to find fire pokemon. Ponyta and Rapidash roam the prairies while Houndour and Houndoom wander the mountain paths. We never encountered any Houndour along Route 9, so I decided that I wanted to travel west along Route 8, and then curve south and meet back up with the eastern Routes after reaching the prairies.

When I voiced that opinion, Keith merely shrugged and said, "Alright, sounds good to me." With that decided, we packed and left immediately. The first thing I did upon leaving Lavender on Route 8 was to take Azrael on a flying hunt. After the fruitful expedition, I met back up with Keith, who was progressing at a normal pace.

"I wish I could fly with Skye," he said. "At least, the way you can ride Azrael. I'm fairly certain that Skye could carry me, but I don't have a saddle and I'm afraid that he would drop me."

"Hmm," I thought. "When's your birthday?"

"October 11th. And don't you even think about getting me a saddle. They are way too expensive," he said sternly. I shrugged and continued walking.

Before the sun set, after we had made camp, both of our PokeDexes sounded an alarm and vibrated. When I investigated the reason, I found a message that read, URGENT! YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED UPON TO UPHOLD THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POKEMON TRAINERS IN THE INDIGO LEAGUE.

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**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

**Trainer: Keith Mulback; KA104FU558**

**Pokemon in Possession:**

Luke – Luxray

Fritz – Crobat

Iko – Lucario

Nel – Weavile

Skye – Talonflame

Shin – Wartortle

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Author's Note: Well, not much to say other than 'lots of new stuff'. As always, thank you for the reviews. One of my favorite parts about writing is hearing what people have to say about it.

Now, unfortunately I will be taking a short break from writing in order to finish up college. I will continue in a maximum of two months, but for the time being, school takes priority. Thanks everyone for your support!


	19. Chapter 19: Competing Interests

Hey there everyone, I'm back! Newly graduated and newly unemployed! When I metaphorically picked up the pen once more, I decided to read over what I had written. Taking inspiration from my recent readings, I started re-editing the chapters one by one. Low and behold, I could not stop. So I edited the whole thing! That is why I will take time before this chapter to implore you to re-read the story if you haven't in the last month so that you can experience a better version (in my opinion) with a few tidbits of added content (around 7200 additional words in all). While I intimately understand the time that goes into reading a story of this length, I personally believe that it would be well worth the read-over. SO, I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 19

"That's convenient…" muttered Keith, looking at his PokeDex.

"Indeed," I sighed, opening up my 'Dex GPS. A flashing beacon lit up a portion of the map above a small town outside of an entrance to the Rock Tunnel. I zoomed out the map to show our destination as well as our current position, and found the distance to be a little over ten miles. "Fastest way to get there is by air or teleportation," I told Keith.

"Right," Keith said with a small bit of sass. "Well, I don't have any psychic pokemon and Skye has never flown with me before. I honestly don't know if he would be able to without carrying me by my arms, and I'd rather keep them in their sockets."

"Ugh. Fine. I'll have Dante teleport you while I fly with Azrael, unless you want _Azrael_ to carry you by your arms," I said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Or maybe I could scoot up nice and close to you. If Sheila could, I'm sure I wouldn't have a problem," he replied, effectively ruining my side of the joke.

Keith laughed as I grimaced, and said, "Let's pack up real quick, first, before we go teleporting away." I nodded and we set to work packing up. Five minutes later, as we were in the process of collapsing our tents, a _pop_ rang out in the vicinity. Startled, I twisted around to see a ranger standing next to a Hypno.

"Trainers! There is no time to finish packing up. Either keep a pokemon here to protect your things, or try to remember where your camp is. We've got a small herd of Rhydon rampaging from the Rock Tunnel, and they will reach the city of Dalry any minute from now!"

Without further ado, Keith and I nodded and stepped forward, returning all of our pokemon except for one each to guard the camp. Keith left his Weavile and I left Rufus, telling him that we would be back in no time, and that I trusted him to watch over our things. He reluctantly whined as the ranger's Hypno teleported all three of us away.

The dim lighting darkened slightly more as we appeared in the mountain's shadow. I was immediately greeted by a cacophony of deep, distant roars and looked around. The town was surrounded by a wall, and we were outside of it. I looked in the other direction and saw a 20-foot wide dirt road, bordered by pine trees and leading towards the mountain.

Four other trainers were present aside from Keith and I, and five rangers were scattering in the direction of the town, leaving one behind. "Trainers!" he bellowed. "We don't have enough time to set up a strategic defense; they've already left the mountain and are headed here quickly. Take position as far ahead as you can and stop them before they reach the walls!"

I looked back to the walls as the area lit up from the floodlights stationed atop them. Large ballistae were positioned beside each floodlight, and all five of the rangers who had been with us previously were hastily loading them with large bolts.

"There are five or six Rhydon and an uncertain amount of Rhyhorn. Take out the Rhydon and they may retreat, but be careful!" the ranger warned. "They are strong and fierce. Do _not_ put yourself between one and its target if you see it charging. You _will_ _not_ survive! Any questions?"

"Why are we using ballista against them?" I asked. "Wouldn't firearms be more effective?"

The ranger looked at me with a frown and yelled, "Firearms make too much noise! They can alert other pokemon in the vicinity or just make things worse. Worry about your job and let us worry about ours! Now direct your attention behind me! These are what you are up against!"

I flinched with awkwardness and looked behind him where two Rhydon were being released by their rangers from the top of the wall. With mighty roars, they appeared in front of the wall within twenty feet of us. They were much larger than I imagined, standing at six feet while on all-fours and at about nine feet while standing. They had a large, two-foot horn on their noses, and their hides looked impenetrable.

After observing the behemoths for a little too long and receiving an angry impetus to get going, I turned to run with the other trainers, finding them already sprinting towards the edge of the woods. I hurried to catch up, seeing pokemon appearing from within flashes of red light. From one trainer, I saw a Venusaur and a Kingler appear, from another I saw a Machoke and a Horsea appear, from another I saw a Breloom and a Zangoose, and from the last I saw a single Poliwrath appear.

Keith waited for me and released Iko, his Lucario, and Shin, his Wartortle, while I released Azrael and Ceto. "Hurry up, Zach!" Keith yelled.

I huffed and sprinted the remaining distance to him, and we sped off past the tree line. We stopped after about one hundred feet and heard crashing ahead in the distance. "Azrael, I need you to stop the largest ones," I said. "If we take out them, then there is a good chance that we will win this quickly. Use _Bulldoze_, _Dragon Rush_, and _Hyper Beam_. Ceto, I want you using _Hydro Pump_ and_ Brine_. Start with a couple agilities first, though. Now take to the sky, Azrael!"

Azrael shot into the sky with a bellow while I released Gilles. "Gilles, get in there and hypnotize as many as possible and use energy balls when you can!" I ordered, and then released Dante. Gilles disappeared into the shadowy twilight as I said, "Dante, I need you to stand by me. You can go ahead and take out a few, but I need you to stay close in case we are overrun."

_J'Kun, I will be your shield_, Dante replied, extending his blades.

"Thank you, Dante. Now start sharpening those blades," I said with gratitude. By now, the roars were closer and I could feel the ground shaking. Keith was similarly barking orders to his pokemon who spread out around him. Soon after, I heard the not-so-distant roar of Azrael and felt an ensuing tremor.

Then, I saw a thick bush tremble through the dim foliage, followed by the vegetation in front of it. I heard the sound of heavy footfalls, but before they drew too close, a high-pressured stream of water shot from beside me and hit the creature before it could identify itself. The shot was followed by a loud rumbling groan, and its footfalls ceased.

A couple seconds later, I saw more foliage shaking in different areas but heading in my direction. Another hydro pump erupted from Ceto and Dante disappeared. I heard a yelp accompanied with the sound of metal on rock before Dante reappeared back at my side with red stains on his blade.

I showed my appreciation by patting Dante on the shoulder, but the gesture was interrupted by the crash of a tree collapsing. Then I saw it; the hulking, rampaging form of a creature so set on its course that I could not possibly hope to stop it. The behemoth barreled past the tree which so happened to find itself in front of its demolisher, showing no signs of situational empathy.

As it quickly drew near, a spout of water erupted from Ceto and struck it on its lowered horn, having no effect. Dante then teleported, appearing in a low sweep motion beside the Rhydon. The force of Dante's kick caused the Rhydon to stumble, but the force behind the Rhydon's charge rebounded on Dante, sending him flying to the side.

The Rhydon took a second to pick itself up from the ground, and when it did, it rose to its hind legs and, consequentially, its full height. Ceto did not wait for it to act, and shot it in the face with a scalding jet of water. Her attack had the immediate effect, not of leaving debilitating burns, but of pissing it off instead.

The Rhydon drug its clawed paw across the ground towards Ceto, launching a large rock at her, who lowered her head and absorbed the blow on her crest. When Ceto looked up, another rock struck her in the chest knocking her back, and then another hit her again. As she rose from the ground, the Rhydon stomped hard. At that moment, Dante teleported to Ceto and then teleported away, effectively saving her from a large sharp rock that thrust itself out of the ground in the spot that Ceto had previously been occupying.

The Rhydon then looked around, not seeing where Dante took Ceto, and then its gaze fell upon me. I flinched and took a step back as it roared its gravelly battle cry and thrust its paw straight up. With the motion followed a large rock slab, which flew up about twenty feet into the air before surging towards me. The rock never hit its mark, for it was intercepted in mid-air by Azrael who intervened at the right moment.

Azrael took the hit and was carried down to the ground with the force of the blow. With the advent of a new, powerful foe, the Rhydon roared a challenge and charged. Azrael, shaking himself off from the violent smack down, was able to rise up and send a wave of earth at the Rhydon, who powered through the wall with its horn lowered and slammed into Azrael.

Azrael roared in pain as the Rhydon's spike impaled him in the lower stomach and carried them both ten feet back. The Rhydon then reared back and sent a wave of earth back at Azrael, which seemed to be much more thick and streamlined than those of my starter, and struck Azrael with enough force to knock him over again. The Rhydon continued its assault, preventing Azrael from retaliating and keeping him on his heels, until help arrived.

A translucent green orb impacted the behemoth in the back and tore a chunk of skin away. Directly after, in a blur of motion, Dante appeared and slammed his palm into the wound before teleporting away. The Rhydon spun around to meet his non-present attackers, and was hit with a powerful hydro pump in the side of the head, though I noticed that the volume of water in the attack was lesser than normal. I immediately concluded that Ceto was running out of her water stores and had no source of water upon which to draw for her attacks.

The short distraction was all Azrael needed to right himself and strike back. A ball of energy appeared at his mouth as he let out a rudimentary hyper beam, and the Rhydon was thrown about twenty feet in the opposite direction. At that point, I saw the surrounding brush rustling as more Rhyhorn charged into the fray. I managed to run to the side and dodge one of them, but they all succeeded in running past us toward the town.

While eluding the newcomer, I heard the sounds of roaring coming not only from the immediate vicinity, but also in the near distance. When I finally returned my attention to the Rhydon, I saw Azrael and Dante double-teaming it and managing to drive it back. With a weakened bulldoze from Azrael and another powerful brick break from Dante, the Rhydon backed off with a growl and turned away.

With a weak roar and huff, Azrael turned towards me and lumbered over beside Dante. I reached up and stroked his face, noting how beat up he looked, and retrieved his pokeball. His health read 8% and he was suffering from internal bleeding, so I said, "Azrael, thank you. I'm returning you for now so that you don't injure yourself anymore."

With a protesting whine, Azrael disappeared into his pokeball. I then made my way back to the clearing, with Ceto and Dante meeting up with me along the way. Ceto, I noticed, felt a little dry when I patted her on the head, and I made a mental note to hold off ordering her to use water. Dante had sustained a bit of damage, which I noticed in his subtle limp on the leg he had used to stop the Rhydon's initial charge.

Regardless of my pokemons' cuts and bruises, we hustled to the clearing outside of the town and narrowly avoided crossing paths with another retreating Rhydon. As we exited the woods and entered the clearing, the walls' floodlights blinded me for a second, but I could hear the bedlam taking place. Multiple different types of roars could be heard echoing through the twilight air, and when my eyes adjusted, I saw the two rangers' Rhydon taking on a wild one, keeping it away from the wall. All the while, the rangers manning ballistae were releasing bolts into any wild pokemon who traveled within 50 feet.

From my observations, the ballista bolts were connected by thin chains which, if the Rhyhorn did not turn away after being hit, would send powerful currents of electricity directly through the pokemons' body via the wounds. In retrospect, I know that through the utilization of high-density tungsten heads, the bolts would penetrate even the toughest hides of creatures such as Rhydon and render them vulnerable to normally ineffective electricity through the bolts.

I directed Dante and Ceto to enter the fight and they went to work helping the rangers against the multitude of Rhyhorn which had been charging into the clearing. It was not until Keith stumbled out of the trees about twenty feet from me that another Rhydon appeared. Keith limped into the clearing, calling for help, and a tree broke apart behind him as a Rhydon tore through it. Keith's Talonflame, Skye, was latched onto its face, Iko was riding on its back, and the Rhydon was roaring furiously.

The Rhydon continued forward where Keith happened to be standing, and my heart skipped a beat as I realized that the Rhydon would collide with him soon. As quickly as I could, I reached into the small sack on my belt, took out a pokeball, enlarged it, primed it, and threw it at the Rhydon. The ball hit the Rhydon before it could collide with Keith and digitalized it instantly to Keith's visible relief.

"Dante!" I yelled. "Get Keith away now!"

_Understood, J'Kun, _was Dante's reply before he teleported Keith away. Keith's appearance 50 feet to the side coincided with the pokeball containing the Rhydon exploding apart. Keith's pokemon resumed their assault on the Rhydon, but it shifted its focus to me: the unwise human who had just tried to catch it.

_Well, shit,_ I thought, knowing that I had personally pissed it off. "Dante!" I yelled.

Dante teleported me away just as the Rhydon started to charge. It passed through my previous position, showing a complete lack of interest in its other attackers, and continued its charge towards the wall of the town, quickly forgetting my act. As it reached a distance of 20 feet from the wall, the ground caved in.

Soon after, the Rhydon emerged on the other side of the ten-foot-wide trench as if it was a minor inconvenience and continued to shrug off ballista bolts in its progress towards the wall. Once the Rhydon reached the wall, a powerful current of electricity surged into the bolt in its wound and forced it to stop. The remaining rangers proceeded to shoot bolts into the stationary Rhydon and electrocute it more before it finally had had enough and turned to run.

Around that time, the two rangers' Rhydon were driving away their opponent and the smaller Rhyhorn were beginning to flee as well. We waited for more to emerge from the forest, but no others came. Five minutes later, the other trainers emerged from the forest, one being carried by the others because of an obviously broken leg.

He was immediately tended to, and the ranger in charge addressed us. "Trainers, we are only halfway finished here. Since there are no gym leaders in any nearby city, it falls to us to conduct an investigation. Pull yourselves together and prepare to leave. Hopefully this will not take long."

With the exception of the one injured trainer, we all returned our pokemon and gathered at the front gate of the town. There, Keith looked at me and said, "Zach, thanks for back there. I don't think I could have gotten out of the way in time."

"It was nothing. I'm sure you would have done the same for me," I replied.

"Sure I would. But thanks anyway," he said, and shook my hand. I felt slightly awkward with the handshake, but I indulged him and felt appreciative in the end. When three other rangers joined us, my interaction with Keith was cut short as we immediately set out down the wide path towards the Rock Tunnel entrance at a light jog.

At our quickened pace, we arrived after ten minutes and found the large entrance gaping at us like the mouth of some ancient, subterranean monster. No light came from the inside and the air was quiet. Only a light breeze disturbed the tranquil ambience until the ranger in charge said, "Trainers, this is the procedure: you follow us in, using your pokemon to keep an eye on our flanks, we track the pokemon back to their initial location of disturbance, and then we find out what caused it. Any questions?"

No one said anything. "Great. Now while we are in here, there will be no light. If your pokemon can create light, I suggest you keep them out. If not, use a flashlight. Also, most importantly, while we are in the tunnel, travel in pairs. We don't need anyone getting lost or attacked without help." The ranger pointed at me and Keith, then he pointed at two of the remaining trainers, and then he pointed to the last trainer and a ranger.

"Now that you know who your partner is, stay together and stay close," the ranger called out before releasing a Rhydon. Another ranger released a Granbull, who obeyed its master's subsequent orders and started sniffing around. The last ranger released a Pikachu which started to glow. They then led us into the dark abyss, aided with the Pikachu's light.

Rock Tunnel resembled Mt. Moon in many ways, foremost among them being the rocky composition of the tunnels. However, unlike Mt. Moon, a maze of crisscrossing passages flowed in multiple directions at the entrance of the cave. Some curved upwards, some flowed down, and some intersected each other and flowed in multiple directions from there. Needless to say, becoming lost was a stark possibility.

I released Dante and Gilles for their protection while Keith released his Crobat, Fritz, during which time the Granbull chose a path leading steadily downwards. The ground was gravelly and jagged, making me struggle to avoid stumbling while the rangers agilely moved on without a problem.

We moved through the tunnels without encountering any wild pokemon for almost half an hour before the lead ranger raised a close fist at the opening of a large cavern. His Rhydon moved into the cavern quietly, and we waited in suspense.

A roar sounded in the tunnel and the rangers moved back, pushing us along. Soon we heard the bellowing of other pokemon in the cavern and the rangers told us to spread out. Keith and I moved into the mouth of an intersecting tunnel, the other trainer duo moved into another, and the rangers stood at the forefront of the group.

The light being produced by the Pikachu suddenly illuminated the charging forms of two Rhydon. The rangers dived out of the way just in time and the Rhydon hit the adjacent walls with a crash, shaking the ground underneath us. While I struggled to retain my footing, I noticed rocks falling from the ceiling in front of me and glanced up. I barely had enough time to dive backwards into a ball in order to avoid the cave-in which followed, though it did not prevent me from accruing some scrapes and bruises from smaller falling rocks.

After the deafening vibration of the cave-in subsided, I rose to my feet and looked around. In the darkness I could make out the shapes of Keith, who was also standing up, and his Crobat. Soon after, I heard a pop, and Dante's form materialized in front of me next to a pair of glowing white and red eyes. _J'Kun! Are you injured?_ came the mental voice of my Gallade.

Before I answered, Gilles gave a high-pitched and hollow cackle. "Zach, if you are alright, could you _please_ get your ghost to stop freaking me out," Keith's voice rang out, warranting more laughter from Gilles.

"I'm alright," I said, both to Keith and Dante. "Gilles, cut it out, would you?" I said to my ghost, knowing that he would not. "Keith, are _you _alright?" I asked, despite assuming that he was.

"I'm fine. Fritz knocked me out of the way," Keith replied.

"Huh. If only a certain invisible creature would have done the same for me," I said sarcastically, to which Gilles surprisingly piped down. "Don't worry about it, Gilles. I'm fine. Now-" My sentence was cut short by another tremor and a muffled roar from the other side of the wall of collapsed rocks.

Suddenly a small beam of light pierced the blackness as Keith switched on his flashlight and said, "Come on! We can't stay here," before running down the tunnel.

"Wait!" I yelled. "What about the Rhydon?"

"Just come on!" he yelled back. "We might get buried on either side of the cave-in. We don't know what's going on over there, and if we teleport in or burrow through the debris, we might find ourselves in an even worse situation."

I agreed and ran behind him, my pokemon staying close. "I'm sure some of these tunnels cross over anyway," Keith continued as he jogged. We might find a different entrance to that cavern."

"Yeah, if we don't get lost first," I said.

"C'mon. Where's your spirit of adventure?" he asked sarcastically. I ignored him and concentrated on running. Interestingly enough, I felt a fair amount of déjà vu. Running through the tunnel with the light of the flashlight flickering across featureless gray and brown walls reminded me of my flight from Azrael back when we first met. However, I noticed that the light from Keith's flashlight was much brighter than the one I had used in Azrael's burrow, rendering my perception more acute.

Keith and I ran for almost ten minutes before we stopped and took a moment to catch our breaths. "I think we should've found a connection by now," Keith said while heaving.

"Yeah," I replied. "I hope they're doing okay back there." Keith nodded and we rested. After a couple minutes, Dante's eyes lit up and he yelled a mental warning.

_J'Kun!_ Before I could react, my calf erupted in pain and I fell over. Gilles let out a screech and disappeared, but his outburst did not overpower the deep baritone laughing that filled the passageway.

"Oh, come _on_!" Keith yelled. "Really!? Now!?" Gilles' shriek rang out alongside the baritone cackling, and the laughing faded away along with the pain in my leg, but I was shaken from the sudden attack. Gilles appeared soon after, though his face was angry.

_The sadistic spirit tells me that the other one escaped. Forgive me, J'Kun, for I cannot locate the spirit in here, _Dante told me, his head bowed in shame.

"It's alright, Dante. We need to get out of here, though," I said, and Keith only nodded.

We resumed our race to find a connecting tunnel, and within another five minutes, the tunnel opened into a larger cavern. We waited in the mouth of the passage and, finding no sound coming from within, entered cautiously. Keith directed his flashlight around and I noticed something glinting in its beam. Keith noticed it as well and shone his light directly onto the object.

It turned out that the object was no object at all. Upon being exposed to the light, the creature rose up and let out a metallic screech. Keith and I both audibly gasped from behind the light as a Metang hovered toward us and let out a sonic pulse, which was blocked by a light screen that Dante erected at the last second.

Keith looked over to me while enlarging a pokeball to find me doing the same. We paused, looked at each other, smiled, and turned our attention to the wild pokemon. "Gilles! Hit it with shadow balls but don't kill it! We're catching it! Dante, keep us safe," I ordered.

"Fritz, stay away from it and use swift. We're going to catch 'em," Keith ordered at the same time.

What followed was a relatively short battle in which all three of our pokemon ganged up on the Metang, keeping it at bay while whittling down its vitality. The pivotal moment came when both Keith and I threw a pokeball at the same time to catch it. Due to the fact that I had developed fast throws through baseball, mine hit first and sucked in the Metang.

While the ball wiggled, Keith and I each held another ball at the ready. Just when I thought the squirming would come to a halt, the ball exploded and the Metang was released. I was ready for that possibility, and so was Keith. We both wound up to throw, but before I could follow through, the scars on my wrists erupted in agony, causing me to drop the ball. It fell to my feet and Keith's ball hit the Metang, which consequently disappeared in a red flash of light.

I held my arm, which was spasmodically convulsing on its own, and I heard the dreaded and familiar baritone laugh of my stalker. Once again, Gilles shrieked and disappeared into the area while Dante hovered beside me protectively. And once again, Gilles was only able to drive it away. After the pain subsided, I saw Keith returning with a pokeball in his hand.

I dejectedly sighed as realization dawned on me. "Damn that ghost!" I spat.

"No kidding," Keith responded. "You've got one hell of an arm, but I think I would have hit it first that last time."

"Whatever," I said resentfully. To be honest, though I never would have admitted it to him, I noticed that the ball was out of Keith's hand before the ghost intervened with me. Not only was I angry with the ghost, but I was also angry that I had legitimately lost to Keith. "We need to find a way back."

"Good idea," said Keith. "No hard feelings, right? We both knew what was going on."

"Yeah," I said curtly.

Keith was quiet after that, but it was probably because he knew I was angry and did not want to make things worse. We walked in silence after I told Gilles to be vigilant in his guard, and we eventually came to the other side of the cavern, which had multiple exits.

"I have no idea which one to take," said Keith.

"I don't either," I responded. "I could take out Azrael and have him figure it out, but he's hurt pretty badly. I would rather not."

"Hmm. It's been a while. Do you think the others took care of the danger back there?" Keith asked.

"Maybe…" I said in thought. "It will take us around the same amount of time to get back, so it wouldn't surprise me if they were by that point."

"Damn. I hope they aren't too mad at us for running off," Keith said. "Better yet, I hope everyone's alright. Here's to hoping." We then turned around and headed back at a comfortable jog.

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Barking split the silence between Keith and I, and a Granbull appeared from the darkness ahead, running towards us. It stopped, huffed, and started heading back. Keith and I shrugged before following it, and before long we met up with a ranger.

The ranger told us that another trainer had been injured, but he had already been evacuated. As for the source of the Rhydons' unrest, the recovered evidence indicated that an amateur trainer had attempted to catch a Rhydon and incurred the wrath of the herd.

Luckily for Keith and I, the ranger was not angry with us. On the contrary, the ranger was relieved that we were alright and applauded us for attempting to find a different way in. He told us it was stupid, but that it was smarter than trying to get back in through the fallen debris and unstable terrain.

Finished with our League duties, we were allowed to go. The ranger who had teleported us away from our belongings pointed us in the right direction, and we made plans to leave as soon as our teams were healed. We simply walked to Dalry after leaving Rock Tunnel and admitted most of our wounded pokemon to the town's PokeCenter.

All in all, it felt anticlimactic. More than anything, though, the experience put the reality of the pokemon world into perspective. The truth was that, even though I had won the JIC, the wilderness still held formidable foes which were very much capable of killing me and my pokemon. Granted, pokemon as strong as Rhydon were not as common as others, but they still existed.

The incident at Dalry showed me that I had only scratched the surface of pokemon training, and once again, Aoro's and Champion Volker's words echoed in my mind. The fact of the matter is that pokemon as strong as those Rhydon are not as rare as they seem. They just exist outside the realm of human civilization.

On the established trainer routes, and even off-route, "weak" pokemon are capable of flourishing. The League ensures that human civilization does not encroach on the stronger pokemons' environment, to an extent. The Dalry incident was a great example of a trainer doing just that; he overstepped his bounds and angered forces much more powerful than he.

That was the true purpose of the League; preventing catastrophes like the reckless trainer had almost wrought. That, and preparing people and pokemon to protect the extent of civilization that humankind had created from the wrath of powerful pokemon. It was yet another humbling experience.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

In the morning, Keith and I awoke early to claim our pokemon and walk back to our camp. I kept Azrael and Ceto in their balls because Azrael was still exhausted and Ceto needed to be rehydrated. That left Dante and Gilles, who followed me and stayed alert.

Halfway back to camp, Dante's eyes lit up and Gilles shrieked before disappearing. I braced myself for the impending pain in either my wrists or my leg, and I was hit by both. Falling to the ground with a cry, I was only vaguely aware of the battle which took place. However, when the pain faded, I sat up heaving and saw Gilles holding a transparent doll head which seemed to be leaking black fluid.

Gilles then tossed it into the air and caught it in his open mouth. I sighed and thanked Gilles, who cackled and flew into Keith's shadow, to Keith's dismay. "I swear, man. I've just about had it with ghosts," he muttered.

"Oh, what's the matter? You don't find them cute?" I asked humorously while dusting myself off.

"HA! Cute? Maybe if you're a vampire, freak," Keith responded with a smile.

Once we reached the camp, Rufus bounded up to me and head-butted me in the gut. "Hey! C'mon Rufus. We're fine and don't worry; I won't leave you alone again anytime soon," I cried out. Rufus only seemed slightly assuaged and gave me an indignant pout. With a laugh, I hugged him despite his protests, and set to work packing up the remainder of my supplies.

When we finished, we continued to head south towards Azul City. We had quite a distance to cover, given that it lay 140 miles to the south of Lavender as the Murkrow flies. By route, it was about 160 miles, and despite the distance, we traveled slowly and trained our pokemon.

While searching for the wild herds of Ponyta and Rapidash, I trained everyone on my team. I continued to develop their abilities with deflection, _Protect_, and their natural strengths, but I always felt that there was never enough time in the day to train my pokemon in everything that I wanted. For example, sometimes technique training would take more time than intended and we would end up moving back the next training session. Or sometimes the second to last practice of the day would leave Rufus too weak to work on his darkness training, and we would have to cancel that night's session.

There was always some type of training to organize and always a type of training on the waiting list. The upside is that we were always busy and always progressing with something.

Aside from me, the initial focus of Keith's training was developing his relationship with his new Metang, whom he named Ajax. The metallic pokemon was slow and somewhat nonchalant, but it could hit hard and its psychic abilities only made it more formidable. Before long, he had established a working relationship with the pokemon and was including it in his training.

At one point during our travels, I received a call from Professor Sharpe. As I answered the call, Keith said, "Please tell me he's got _something_ for you."

On the 'Dex, the professor said, "Well I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I believe I know what your particular assailant is, given your description. I believe it is a Banette. A Banette is the evolved form of Shuppet and is a very malevolent spirit. Shuppet are fairly malicious as well, but not to the extent of a Banette. Shuppet come into being as a result of perpetual sorrow or anger in an area. They evolve when exposed to great rage, and were known to haunt the person who caused such rage to occur. Now I don't even want to know how the one following you was created, but it seems that you must have done something to cause a great deal of pain.

"The bad news is that we do not know how to get rid of them. All reports that I have dug through end with the victim's death or insanity. None have ever been captured, either, because pokeballs can't hit them. So we do not know what technique is required to banish them permanently. The trainers who have lived full lives have had to constantly kill the ghosts throughout their lives. But the problem there is that Banette are intelligent. They learn and find ways to haunt their victims while avoiding death. As a result, they become more difficult to kill as time progresses.

"I'm sorry, son, but that's all I have. If you find a way to permanently kill them, then please send in a report here so that we can help future cases. Other than this information, I can't help you."

I dejectedly thanked the professor and hung up. Keith was staring at me and said, "…So? Do we know how to get rid of the bastard?"

"Well, at least I know what it is," I said sadly. "But no, we do not know how to get rid of it. And apparently it will keep growing stronger until it kills me or I find a way to kill it."

"Well that's just fricken swell," exclaimed Keith. "Sorry, man."

I shrugged and said, "I guess we better continue on. Nothing I can do about it now. Guess I better wait 'til it resurrects itself and tries to kill me again."

"Great idea! Maybe we should get your tombstone ready while we're at it," exclaimed Keith again.

"I'd rather not think about it right now," I said, feeling sick. "Let's just get to Azul." Keith nodded and we continued on with heavy hearts.

In all, it took us almost two weeks to reach Azul City and we arrived on the day before my 18th birthday.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Azul City was beautiful. It reminded me of Vermillion, for it lay on the coast, and as such, had a large lighthouse, flocks of Wingull constantly flying overhead, the smell of saltwater permeating the air, and the sounds of the wharf continually crashing in the background. The difference was the vegetation. Everything was a vibrant, brilliant shade of green and the air was euphorically saturated with oxygen.

From what we could find out about the city, Azul is a coveted travel destination for two reasons. The first is that it is a favorite location for wealthy citizens to retire or build summer homes. The second reason is that the Azul Melee is held there twice every year.

The scenery was breathtaking and the people were fairly nice, but Azul City did not have much else to offer visitors such as Keith and I. We discovered that the Azul Melee is held on the first Friday of September and March, and the soonest we could enter the contest would be in two weeks. After a very brief discussion, Keith and I elected to participate.

We had time to prepare, and in turn, we decided to spend the time training and exploring the vast prairies to the northwest. For me, one reason for exploring the prairies was to search for herds of Rapidash. In preparation, I purchased tranquilizer tips for my arrows and restocked on pokeballs.

Before we left, on the second day of our visit to Azul, I received a call and several messages with well wishes for my birthday. My parents called me and I received messages from Sheila, Aoro, Chris, Leader Holmes, and Officer Hershel. I thanked them each in turn and informed Sheila, with whom I had been in frequent contact, of my next move.

That night, Keith presented me with a beer and a TM. The TM contained _Poison Jab_, and as he presented it to me, he said, "Happy birthday, Zach. I think this would be a good move for Gilles since he is one of the few pokemon of yours that can kill that Banette thing."

"Thanks, Keith," I said. Then with a wink, "I thought you hated ghosts."

"Oh, I do," replied Keith, wasting no time making his opinion clear. "But like I said, he can fight off that other ghost with this move."

"Well, thanks again," I said, taking a drink of the beer. Finding that I enjoyed the tasted, I said, "This isn't half bad."

"Great!" Keith replied with a laugh. "We'll make an IPA fan out of you yet."

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Before long, Keith and I were back in the wilds, training and searching. My pokemon constantly grew more adept at fighting, and so did Keith's. We developed new techniques and worked on combos, adding new dimensions to our fighting styles. For example, Dante learned to harness natural energy along the edges of his blades in order to deliver grass-type slashes. We also came up for names for the combos. Gilles' _Toxic _and _Venoshock _attacks used in succession was named Bloodboil.

After two and a half weeks of traversing long grass, waving wheat stalks, and rolling hills, I struck gold. After Keith and I reached the top of a particularly large hill, we looked down to see a herd of Ponyta, Rapidash, and Tauros grazing. I immediately called my father.

"I've found a herd of Ponyta and Rapidash. I'm going to try to catch some. What do you want me to look for?" I asked him.

"Oh! Hold on a second," he replied. I heard another man's voice and then a door shut. "What equipment do you have?" he asked. I told him and he said, "Good. Alright so this is what you need to do: You need to get them running somehow. Not only that, but you need to be able to watch them run. After a mile, look at the front of the herd. The frontrunners will be the best. But stay away from Rapidash! Rapidash are much more difficult to break than Ponyta, so only focus on the Ponyta."

I listened intently and then proceeded to come up with a plan. Keith chose to sit that one out since he was not interested in catching any of them, and he had no method of keeping up with a stampeding herd. Before he left, though, he said, "Hey, remember what happened at Dalry. Make sure you don't stir up the wildlife or you could get in trouble."

To which I replied, "Yeah, yeah. We are far enough out that it shouldn't matter."

"I hope so. Just saying," Keith replied.

When I was ready, I explained the plan to my pokemon, and twenty minutes later I was creeping through the trees towards the far side of the clearing. Azrael was following underground, Gilles was floating invisibly above me, and Dante was at my side. When I reached the tree line, I put my back to a tree and carefully peered around it. The herd was large, perhaps over a hundred in number without counting the Tauros. My quick scan showed me that maybe one out of ten stallions were Rapidash, which stood a full two feet taller than the average Ponyta, which wereabout four and a half feet tall at the shoulders.

I withdrew to the back of the tree and took a deep breath before stomping on the ground and dragging my foot in a circle. It did not take long for all of hell to break loose.

The first thing I felt was the ground shaking, and when I looked around the tree, my view of the field was obscured by a monster of a sandstorm. I heard a few trees crashing to the ground, and the next thing that occurred was a bloodcurdling scream and a mighty roar, which reverberated through the air and numbed my body. I looked up to see Azrael taking to the sky and bellowing, over which I almost could not hear the sounds of whinnying, stomping, and galloping.

With another tremendous roar, Azrael let out a plume of blue fire into the air, signaling that he was ready for me. I nodded to Dante, who nodded back and whose eyes began to glow. A split-second later, I was sitting atop Azrael's shoulders. The teleport was not perfect, though, and I almost fell off, but I was able to grab one of the handholds on the saddle and right myself.

As the saddle molded over my legs and lower back, I returned Dante to his pokeball while thanking him. Below us, I noticed Gilles' still-shrieking visage melded with the sandstorm, creating the façade of a larger monster. When I looked over the storm and into the clearing, I saw a carpet of fire moving away.

The herd of fire stallions had started to stampede, and each of its members were flaring their fiery manes to create a singular moving floor of flames. I recalled Gilles and Azrael sped towards them, bellowing along the way.

Azrael was fast enough to catch up within half a minute. As we descended above the back half of the herd, tongues of fire surged at us from within the stampede, forcing us to ascend in order to avoid the heat. From then on, we were forced to fly a couple hundred feet above the herd, for every attempt we made to close the distance resulted in a barrage of fiery bursts from the fleeing mares.

From our height I could see the Tauros in the herd moving as a unit away from the horses. There were two large Rapidash at the forefront of the charge and others mixed in with the remainder of the herd. I could recognize where a Rapidash was running simply by observing the intensity of the fire above the stampede. The flames above a Rapidash were brighter and flared higher than the surrounding carpet of fire.

After almost two miles of running, during which I noticed many of the members of the stampede moving ahead or falling back, I decided it was time to start the next phase. We descended but were forced yet again to re-ascend by the deterrent jets of flame. With a curse, I ordered Azrael to fly to the very front of the herd.

He rumbled his acknowledgement and the air around me surged past while my inertia drove me back into the saddle violently. When we were above the lead runners, I readied a pokeball. After stopping the herd of stampeding Tauros in Saffron, I knew that I needed to be careful. I did not want to injure the steeds accidentally by tripping them and causing them to become trampled by its stampeding brethren.

With that in mind, I steered Azrael to the front left side of the stampede. I then pointed a pokeball far in front of the herd and released Dante. I quickly stowed his ball and then retracted my bow and a few arrow cartridges. I took aim and released a tranquilized missile at the foremost Ponyta on the side. I aimed a bit high, so that if I missed my target, the arrow would still have a chance to hit another. The arrow caught the Ponyta in the back, and the fire above it flared.

The Ponyta started slowing down after a few seconds and it peeled away from the main herd to avoid being hit by its charging brethren. When it left the body of the herd, Dante appeared next to it and slammed a fist into its head, knocking it out before teleporting it away. Soon after, I redirected my attention to my next target.

My next target was directly behind the first, and I repeated the action. This time, however, I overcompensated for the Ponyta's running by leading too far and my arrow sailed too high. It hit one of the leading Rapidash and I cursed in frustration. The Rapidash hurtled forward and peeled off from the group to engage us.

With that Rapidash pissed at us, we would never be able to descend close enough for another shot. I released Gilles ahead of the Rapidash and he appeared with a malicious crow. The Rapidash was hit with a shadowy orb, which caused it to redirect its attention to Gilles. It let out a large wave of flame at the Haunter, making him scream out in pain before he hypnotized it.

Knowing that the hypnotism would be broken quickly, I aimed another arrow at the Rapidash and fired. Since it was still, I hit it in the back, adding another arrow to its body. It woke up and charged at Gilles, wreathing its body in flames and running at almost impossible speeds. It passed through Gilles, but Gilles was thrown to the side with another scream. The Rapidash turned to charge again while I caught it with another arrow.

The Rapidash pawed the ground and started running back to Gilles, but the tranquilizers were finally starting to kick in. It slowed down and dropped to the ground. I then saw Dante appear next to him and teleport the Rapidash away. Frustrated with myself for causing the situation, I refocused my attention on the Ponyta I had originally intended to hit.

I managed to hit the Ponyta this time, and Dante teleported it off when it left the stampede. From there, I maneuvered Azrael to the other side of the stampede and took some shots at the front right running Ponyta. I was lucky enough to tranq three from that side while only missing with one arrow, which did not hit another.

I then flew back over to the front left. I had four more tranquilizer-tipped arrows, and unfortunately missed with two of them. When I ran out of tranquilizers, I directed Azrael back and released Ceto to start putting out stray fires. The stampeding mares had been flaring their fiery manes skyward for the most part, which left the prairie grasses largely untouched. However, for the portions of grass that had accidentally caught fire, my Seadra was needed.

I left Ceto to dowse the fires and rode Azrael to the predetermined "drop off" location. A small clearing in the woods next to a pond hosted seven unconscious stallions. Around them patrolled Rufus, Dante, and a much wearied Gilles.

"Great job everyone!" I announced as I dismounted. I noticed that around a couple of the Ponyta were upturned earth and other signs of struggle. I also noticed that Rufus was bleeding from his shoulder. "And Rufus, great job in keeping them down! We need to start catching them quickly now before they wake up."

One by one, I made my way through the unconscious Ponyta and captured them with ordinary pokeballs. Some required multiple pokeballs, as they were capable of breaking the balls in spite of their slumber. After all were captured, I stopped above the Rapidash and called my father.

I quickly recounted what had transpired and he said, "So now you've got a Rapidash. And it was one of the lead runners? I don't know if I will be able to break it. First, is it male or female?"

I looked at the steed, noting its reproductive organ, and said, "It's a female."

"Hmm," my father thought. "Males are notoriously difficult to break, so it would be comparatively easier. But wild Rapidash are notoriously difficult to break in general."

"I could just as easily leave her or catch her to try to sell her," I replied. "But you used to be one of the greatest breeders in the country. If you can't break her, then I don't know who can," I said.

My father was silent for a while. "…I'm not as young as I used to be," he said hesitantly.

"But you are not old. Not by a long shot," I retorted quickly, knowing he was not even half a century old yet. "You've had more experience in breaking them than most people. I know you can do it, even if it's difficult. Besides, if it turns out that you can't, I can always return it to the wild."

He was silent once more. When he replied, I could hear a difference in his tone. It held a resolve that I had not heard in a long time; the kind of resolve that moves you, and you know that its bearer truly believes in himself and his capabilities. "Right. Send her along, Zachariah. So help me Ho-Oh, we'll make a racer out of her yet!"

With a smile, I bid my father goodbye and caught the Rapidash, using three greatballs in the process. I looked to the rest of my pokemon and I heard Dante in my mind say, _J'Kun. Your talent for motivation extends to your species as well. _I smiled back at him, joyous that I had brought out my father's inner fire. It gave me goosebumps.

I returned my pokemon, finding Gilles at 27% health, Dante at 80%, and Rufus at 62%. From there, Azrael took me to the sky and we sought out Ceto, who was still putting out stray fires. After she finished, I returned her and flew with Azrael in the direction that the stampede had gone, putting out fires until they no longer tarnished the prairie.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Keith was surprised when we met up and I showed him the spoils of my expedition. "Seven Ponyta and a Rapidash… Wow! How was it?" he asked.

"Exhilarating!" I exclaimed. "Lost a couple arrows in the process, but I can't complain."

"No kidding," Keith responded. "So I guess this means we need to get back to a Pokemon Center."

"Yep. I need to send these home to my father."

Thus we started making our way back to Azul City. We arrived three days before the competition and rested up. By that time, many trainers were beginning to arrive. While en route to the city, Keith and I each caught glimpses of large flying pokemon in the sky carrying trainers. After we arrived, we occasionally saw trainers walking through the streets with pokemon out of their balls.

The Pokemon Center filled up quickly as well, forcing many trainers to seek lodging from alternate sources. The Pokemon Center, though, had quasi-partnerships with many of the local hotels and covered much of the cost for trainers on special occasions such as the Azul Melee.

As it was, Keith and I left the city in order to train during the preceding days. We separated, trained in solitude, and then met up at the Pokemon Center again on the morning of the competition.

We briefly stayed at the Pokemon Center long enough to eat and then departed for the Azul Arena. When we arrived, we were given an explanation of the rules and told to enter the waiting rooms after signing in.

The rules of the game are fairly simple. There are two different competitions: one for trainers with eight badges and one for those with fewer. Trainers are only allowed one pokemon, and those pokemon are forfeited if they are killed, knocked out, refuse to participate, or are returned by their trainers. The most important and defining feature of the Azul Melee is, however, the fact that all trainers participate at the same time. Everyone faces everyone, and only one winner emerges. The Azul Melee lives up to its name, being truly a large brawl.

The stadium was set up much like a coliseum, with spectators seated in stands that encircled the arena. There was a lower ring which stood about ten feet above the arena grounds in which the trainers could move around as they directed their pokemon. It was where we found ourselves at the start of the competition.

There were about 30 trainers spread out around the arena on the trainers' balcony as the announcer made an introduction. While we were standing on the ring, I received a couple of recognizing looks and subsequent despairing expressions. After the introduction was completed, we were all directed to release our pokemon onto the arena floor, which was riddled with a couple pools of water and small vegetation.

I released Azrael, Keith released his Crobat, Fritz, and the rest of the trainers released their pokemon. I saw a vastly diverse medley of pokemon appear, including a Scizor, a Machamp, an Onix, and a Bibarel. I even recognized a couple trainers from the JIC and their pokemon, including the kid whom I fought during the fourth round. He had released his Gyarados in one of the pools of water and was eying my Garchomp venomously.

I made a mental note to look out for that Gyarados, but then I noticed many other trainers looking at Azrael the same way. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that Azrael was in trouble, so I prepared to yell at the start of the match, "Burrow!"

Once the announcer gave the signal to start, the arena floor became an absolute bedlam. Azrael burrowed in time to avoid two separate ice beams and thrown rocks, other pokemon immediately engaged each other, and others took to the sky in aerial combat. Bouts of fire, jets of water, earth, and electricity were being flung into the air, showering the arena in magnificent colors.

Once you looked past the colors, though, you could see pokemon ripping into one another. The birds above the ground were locked in a furious aerodynamic battle. The ground was tearing itself apart from pokemon fighting underneath the ground. All the while, the crowd was roaring and it was difficult to give orders over the cacophony of shouting by the trainers.

After a minute had passed, over half of the pokemon had been recalled. The arena calmed down considerably until some of the underground and airborne pokemon took the fight to the ground. Then, an entirely new bedlam started once again, leaving even fewer pokemon left standing in its wake.

By the end of the second pandemonium, around ten pokemon were left, including Azrael and Fritz. My attention only caught Fritz insofar as making a note of his survival. The majority of my focus was centered on Azrael, who had become locked in a battle with the Gyarados and a Venusaur. The Gyarados had already delivered a gruesome icy bite into Azrael's back, and the Venusaur had almost blasted Azrael with a solar beam, but Azrael had used his protect technique to block it at the proper moment.

With a large bulldoze to the Gyarados and a hyper beam to the Venusaur, Azrael burrowed into the safety of the earth. When he left, instead of fighting each other like I had expected, the Gyarados and the Venusaur teamed up on the Machamp, felling it after a vicious double-teamed attack. It seemed as though different trainers were making temporary truces in order to take out more imposing pokemon, for the Gyarados and Venusaur engaged another team of two pokemon after they finished off the Machamp.

I noticed then that Fritz had teamed up with a ferocious-looking Staravia and was helping it take out the Scizor. I looked back and waited for Azrael to resurface since I could not give orders via stomp from where I was. The Venusaur and Gyarados took out their two opponents – the Onix and a Medicham – but the Venusaur was badly hurt by the end. Immediately after they triumphed, the Gyarados turned on the Venusaur and knocked it out with an ice beam.

By that time, Azrael resurfaced on the far side of the arena with a wave of earth and took out a hiding Grotle before turning his attention to the Gyarados. As he did, his protect skill flashed over his body and an ice beam impacted harmlessly over its transparent surface. He released it and I saw him breathing heavily from exertion, but he charged the Gyarados nonetheless and barreled into it with a mighty dragon rush, knocking it over backwards into the pond and shaking the arena.

The Gyarados was not finished, and delivered another nasty ice fang into Azrael's side. In retaliation, Azrael released a point-blank hyper beam into the Gyarados' serpentine stomach, knocking it out for the fight. Immediately after, Azrael was set upon by two flying pokemon – Fritz and the Staravia.

Azrael sent up a few large rocks, hitting the Staravia and bringing it down, but sustained many injuries from the air-attacks. I could see that Azrael was growing weak, so I ordered him underground again. However, I forgot about Fritz's ability to clear that particular obstacle.

As soon as Azrael burrowed, I heard Keith yell a command and his Crobat started flinging swifts into the earth. I groaned as the ground rumbled and Azrael emerged, battered and bruised. He sent up a final hyper beam, taking out an image of Fritz before the real Crobat spiraled through the air and slammed onto the top of Azrael's head, knocking him out.

The crowd roared and the announcer proclaimed Keith the winner as I returned Azrael with a heavy heart. Once again, Keith beat me, and I was starting to become angry and once more, I was angrier at myself for allowing him to best me. I mulled over my frustration as Keith was awarded the Melee prize: 5,000Pb and a weeklong cruise off the coast of Azul.

When we left the arena and proceeded back to the Pokemon Center for food, Keith was happy as can be while I was dejectedly following in his shadow. Unsurprisingly, he had somehow managed to pick up two girls on our way back, and was living up his momentary fame. During that time, I sourly imagined that what I was feeling could not have been much different than how Chris had continually felt during our travels. Keith ignored my dour mood and spent the night partying, parting with me after a certain point to engage in Arceus knows what kinds of sexual debauchery with his newfound female friends.

The next morning, I had an early start in order to pick up Azrael from the Pokemon Center. I took him down to the activity room and comforted him, letting him know that I felt just as bad as he did. Of course, in the end, we were never discouraged. As much as I was pissed off, I knew that I could become better, and so did Azrael.

When Keith finally joined me around noon, I was still bitter. Keith never even acknowledged my mood or the fact that he won. It was like he did not even care that he had won; only that he had seized the opportunity to celebrate. In a way, it was nice. Keith did not rub his victory in. He was humble to the extent that he did not discourage his comrades; but that was juxtaposed with his insufferable cockiness in the realm of women.

After all the time I had spent with Keith, I had come to realize something about him. He lived two lives, and kept them separate aside from using the prestige from one to fuel the other. When he was a pokemon trainer, he was serious, talented, resolute, calculating, and merciless. However, he used his achievements as a trainer to fuel his other passion: women.

Keith never let the latter interfere with the former though. He would have fun with women only insofar as it did not inhibit his ability to train his pokemon. After this realization, Keith's interactions with Sheila suddenly made sense. When he first met Sheila, he was charming and flirtatious. But when he found out that she possessed pokemon, he immediately changed his attitude and demeanor. It was almost as if he respected or feared trainers more than civilians, and that he would not take advantage of their emotions. At least, that is how I interpreted his actions. My foul mood may or may not have played a role in creating the perception that Keith did not respect the women with whom he mingled.

His good attitude, however, did not keep me from feeling like crap. My grouchy mood was shown in our limited interaction after we left the city in the direction of Route 13 and 14. Keith let me wallow for a while and did not provoke me, but at the end of the first day on the road, he said, "Look, man. I get that you're pissed. I was pretty pissed when you beat me at the Nugget Bridge that time. But this is just unhealthy."

Not wanting to hear it, I said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"You know, ignoring your problems or letting them fester only ends up hurting you in the long run," he continued.

"I said I don't want to talk about it," I repeated, growing irritated.

"Alright, then," Keith said resentfully. He then walked off to be with his pokemon, leaving me alone at the fireside with Rufus and Dante. Of course he was right, and that made the situation worse for me. It was as if I was failing at every step, including the way that I handled my failure. Furthermore, I felt angry that Keith could be so much better than me in dealing with it. It made me self-conscious, and I did not know how to deal with my frustrations aside from making the situation worse.

That night, I fumed and tried to get over my own petty bitterness by hosting a nighttime training session with Rufus and Gilles. I trained with them, and I gradually felt the sting of my anger fade away amongst the rise and ebb of Kricketune chirping.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

**Trainer: Keith Mulback; KA104FU558**

**Pokemon in Possession:**

Luke – Luxray

Fritz – Crobat

Iko – Lucario

Nel – Weavile

Shin – Wartortle

Ajax – Metang

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

So I finally finished the chapter. Now Zachariah gets a taste of defeat at the hands of someone he has beaten before. Didn't take it so well. Well, I'm not sure how long it will take for the next chapter to come out, as my life is ironically fairly busy at the moment. But I'm back and will continue to write! Thank you all for your reviews and don't forget to review this chapter! See you next time.


	20. Chapter 20: Ethical Complications

Chapter 20

In the morning, I distinctly remember reflecting on the efficacy of training as a means of thawing my anger. I had been ensnared in the restrictive embrace of self-pity and self-disappointment the previous day, but by morning, all of those detestable emotions were absent from my mind. I knew that nothing had changed, because I would continue to push myself and my team to our limits, and there would be no time to hold petty grudges. And I knew that, when I returned to the Azul Melee in the future, I would not lose.

I suppose Keith must have thought that I was bipolar, because he looked upon me with confusion when I greeted him in the morning with a smile on my face. "Umm, is everything alright?" he asked, failing to mask his bewilderment.

"Yeah," I said. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"It's just that, last night, you were pretty mad. Now you look like you just woke up in a bed of Eevee," he said, scratching his head through his black hair.

I laughed and replied, "Just cleared my mind. I feel better today."

"So we're good then? Nothing bothering you anymore? The Melee is behind us now?" Keith asked, with a hint of sarcastic prodding.

"Dammit, yes!" I exclaimed. "What's done is done. Being angry isn't helping my team get any better, ok?"

"Alright, alright. Just checking," Keith said with a laugh, putting his hands up in a peacemaking manner. "So what's your plan from here?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Hmm," I said, thinking. I brought out my PokeDex and opened the map. A long journey lay ahead of us along Routes 13, 14, and 15, leading us through expansive prairies and mild forestry. In all, a little over 300 miles lay between us and Fuchsia City if we decided to follow the Routes. "I want to follow the routes to Fuchsia. With three practices every day, and about 10 miles of walking beside that, we could reach Fuchsia in early October - about a month from now."

"Three practices?" Keith asked, sighing. "Two is perfectly fine, you know? We would still get plenty of training, _and_ we would reach Fuchsia a bit earlier."

"You are welcome to go at your own pace," I said succinctly. "This is my plan and I have a lot of training planned for my team. We will need the time."

"No, it's cool. I'll stick with you. Though I can't promise I'll participate in each practice session," Keith said.

With that understanding established, we prepared for our first practice and subsequently the very lengthy journey in front of us. The subject of my team's first practice was one against many. The Azul Melee showed me that my team needed to learn, more than anything else, how to fight against multiple opponents.

So, I instituted a drill in which one of my pokemon would fight multiple others at the same time. I started off simple, telling the multiple pokemon on the opposing team to only use one move against the single defender. Within a week, they were allowed to use moves from custom move sets, which still limited their attacks but gave them variety.

Unsurprisingly, my pokemon adapted quickly, and their game improved when facing multiple enemies. Conveniently, our skill was put to the test after about three and a half weeks, right after we had reached Route 15. The test we faced, though, was different from the many previous trials through which fate had led us. The circumstances of that day included the awakening of a side of me that had mostly lain dormant up until that point.

The morality of my actions during the incident was dubious at best. One could argue that the outcome justified the method, but the counter-argument would have held just as much weight. What can be agreed upon, despite its ethical uncertainty, is that the method yielded results. The results and their consequences, however, manifested both immediately and far after the events of that day.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

It was any ordinary day out on the routes. My team and I trained with as much dedication as we would any other day of the week. Keith had sat out for the second session of the day, having participated in the first, and nothing seemed amiss. Azrael was honing his hyper beams, Rufus was practicing his ability to meld with the shadows of the dense foliage, Gilles and Ceto were working on their protection abilities, and Dante was conditioning his teleportation skills.

At some point during the session, Dante teleported into the clearing with his eyes glowing particularly bright, and urgently assaulted my mind with three words, lacing them with repulsion. _J'Kun! Empty ones!_

My mind did not comprehend the statement for the first couple of seconds after he appeared, but then it dawned on me and my mood darkened. My reaction was apparently noticeable enough that Keith asked, "Zach? Is everything okay?"

I ignored Keith's question and asked Dante, "Are you certain?"

_I am,_ Dante replied, his mental words laced with the same malice as before. _While I was teleporting, I felt the call of a distressed mind and investigated. As we speak, a young Yeshku is fighting his way out of a hard rock structure with his trained companions. _

"Zach? What's going on?" Keith pushed.

"Meteors…" I said, gathering my hunting bow and any other useful gear.

"Arceus damn it!" Keith exclaimed. "What the hell are they doing all the way out here? And just what the hell are you doing!?" he added.

"There is someone in trouble right now," I replied, not stopping. "The League won't respond in time to help him."

"Do you hear yourself? These are _Meteors_ we're talking about!" shouted Keith. "They are killers! Do you even know how many there are?" Azrael lifted his lip and growled at Keith, but Keith ignored him.

_J'Kun, there are many. Their numbers are over 30, _Dante answered in my mind.

"I know who they are, and there are a lot. But that's no excuse to let a kid die," I said.

"So you will willingly endanger not only your own life, but also your pokemons'!? Instead of waiting for the professionals to show up, you will take them on alone!?" Keith demanded.

"This is the right thing to do. The kid needs help, and _we are _the League for all intents and purposes here. Our duty is to protect," I said, hiding part of the whole truth in which I despised the Meteors and wanted a chance to fight back against them.

"But this is way out of our league, Zach! We are more likely to get killed than to save the kid!"

"Look, Keith. I'm not going to force you to come. I'm done arguing; the kid is in danger, and the more time we spend arguing, the more time the Meteors have to kill him. If you want to help, you are more than welcome, but you don't have to," I said impatiently, strapping the last of my gear to my clothing.

"Gyah, Arceus damn it all! This is so stupid! I'm coming, but if I die, I'm haunting your ass forever!"

I smiled and turned to my pokemon, "Dante, where are they?" I asked.

_I will take you there. I will also take the sarcastic one. It is not incredibly far, but I might be tired after, _Dante replied.

"Thank you, Dante," I said. "Keith, after Dante teleports me there, he will return for you."

"Brilliant," Keith responded sarcastically.

I turned to my pokemon and said, "This is going to be dangerous. Prepare yourselves." I then recalled them, turned to Dante, and nodded. Dante walked up to me and we disappeared, reappearing with a _pop_ amidst a shroud of deciduous foliage.

I looked around. _The clearing is two hundred feet ahead, _Dante said before disappearing. Another five seconds passed before Dante reappeared, holding onto a serious-looking Keith. I watched his eyes dance around the environment, looking for any sign of danger, but when he found none, his shoulders visibly eased.

I sent a message to Aoro, alerting him of our situation since I knew that he would respond more quickly than anyone else. Then I nodded, returned Dante, and released Gilles and Rufus. Keith released his starter, Luke, and Nel. Our choices in pokemon were made with silent travel in mind.

Without further ado, we quietly sneaked north until the trees broke into an artificial clearing, which was roughly in the shape of a trapezoid. It featured three long, windowless, concrete buildings curving around the three smaller sides, two more long buildings situated along the extended side, and a pentagonal landing pad in the middle, which was visible between the buildings. The landing pad also held a docked helicopter.

From where we stood, it appeared as if there were no patrols, which I attributed to the trainer's situation. It was also quiet apart from the natural sounds of the woods around us. "So," Keith whispered. "We hop in, grab the kid, and then hop out?"

"I don't think it will be so easy…" I whispered back. "We will need a distraction. I'm going in so I need you to wreak some havoc up here."

"And how do you propose I do that?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know! Think of something," I quietly exclaimed.

"Ugh. I must be out of my mind," Keith said as he released Iko.

I released Dante in turn and asked him if he could locate the kid. _The Yeshku is underneath the ground. Over there,_ he replied, pointing towards one of the two long buildings at the trapezoidal clearing's base.

"Good luck, Keith!" I wished him earnestly, and then recalled Dante. Keith nodded and I ran along the tree line around the complex until I was near the building Dante had pointed out. Rufus was focused and breathing evenly, and Gilles was quietly giggling. I released Azrael and said, "It's time, Azrael. I need you to dig under that building. See if you can detect a trainer and his pokemon underground, and lead us to him."

Azrael snorted and started tearing into the ground. I followed behind him, dodging falling pieces of earth. I was only able to keep up with his pace because I could run freely and I did not have all of my travel equipment. It was dark for a minute or so, but then when he reached the basement of the building, light burst around Azrael as if he was eclipsing an underground star.

Immediately, the sound of gunfire reverberated through the tunnel, and Azrael recoiled violently. I needed to dive backwards in order to avoid being run into, but I saw why he flinched soon after. There were tears of red starting to run down Azrael's neck below two small holes, and another in his right shoulder.

After I saw Azrael's injuries, all priorities were dropped. Rage filled my blood and I recalled him, vaguely noting that his health had only dropped to 74%. I did not take the time to think about Azrael's actual health; only that he had been shot three times; by the same sick bastards that use terror to advance their agenda and who had killed so many before.

The rescue mission now took on a different characteristic. I loosed Dante, glowered, and said, "I need you to shield us," anger wracking my body.

_Y-yes, J'Kun_, he answered. I had never once heard fear in Dante's words, but I believe that he was truly frightened by my state of mind at the time. He did not hesitate, though, and erected a reflective screen over us. From then on, the full extent of Dante's focus was necessarily allotted to the screen since he was covering multiple teammates.

"Gilles," I said, turning to my ghost. "Don't attack the kid. But you can take out the Meteors however you want." Gilles' perpetual grin widened as he let out a horrible cackle and faded through the wall of the tunnel. "Rufus, stick by me and use Con-pulse when you can." Rufus acknowledged my command with a huff.

"Let's go!" I exclaimed, and I jumped into the hall with my bow raised. The sounds of yells now accompanied the gunfire as I saw Gilles materialize in the midst of a group of five Meteors, slicing the neck of one with a shadowy claw and sending blood splattering on the remainder of the nearby Meteors.

While looking for a target, I noted that I was standing inside of a large underground facility lit by dull, dim lights. Crates dotted the ground, a few forklifts were scattered around the vicinity, and foot-wide palisades held up the ceiling. I noticed then that a few smaller crates had been hastily flung to one corner of the room and a large portion of the Meteors' attention was focused on spraying bullets in its direction. I also noticed the bloody shell of a Heracross corpse lying in the middle of the room next to four dead terrorists.

The rest of the Meteors' attention was now concentrated on the new threat: me. I shot an arrow at one of the Meteors who had a rifle leveled at me, catching him in the sternum, but bullets riddled the screen around me. The screen was not strong enough to protect me completely. The bullets still passed through the barrier and pounded against my body, leaving large bruises. At first, only two bullets hit me, but they hit me on my right thigh and on my gut, knocking the wind out of me.

At the same time, Rufus let out a bone-chilling howl and sent a concentrated dark pulse into the nearest Meteor who was standing about eight feet away. The black pulse was about two feet wide and hit the woman in the center of her mass. The effect was similar to a point-blank shotgun blast, nearly rending a large hole through her chest. She was thrown onto her back and did not move, but a pool of blood formed around her.

I fell back into the tunnel, heaving from the decelerated bullets that had hit me, and instead of being discouraged, my rage flared to new heights, driving me back into the fray. I released another arrow upon entering the facility, catching a Meteor between the eyes while I sustained a bruise on my ribcage from another bullet.

I quickly rounded on another target, elongating an arrow and landing it in the woman's throat. I then looked over to where Gilles had been fighting and saw four bloodstained bodies on the ground, some writhing in pain, while the fifth was attempting to flee. Before the terrorist could run more than five feet, a ball of shadows hit him in the back of the head. He fell forward to the ground, and when he landed, half of his skull collapsed into dust.

Gilles shrieked in sadistic glee from where the shadow ball had materialized and disappeared again. At the same time, I felt the shockwave of another of Rufus's attacks. I saw a new Meteor fly off of his feet screaming, with a gaping wound around his stomach and pelvis. As I paused, momentarily stunned by the sheer carnage my team and I were wreaking, three more bullets hit me, bruising me in the chest, left ankle, and left forearm.

Once more, I fell back into the tunnel. _J'Kun! _Dante's voice thundered in my mind. _Don't falter! _

"Argh!" I groaned, pained by the bruises on my body. "Sorry, Dante. I'm good now." I shook off the mental shock of the bloodletting and my anger returned anew. First it was Azrael, now they had shot me. My fight with the Meteors was already personal, and now their actions were only fueling my rage.

I ran into the room, stopping briefly to shoot another Meteor in the head, and dived behind the cover of some boxes. Rufus was beside me the entire time and Dante remained in the tunnel so that he could remain hidden while he maintained the transparent, bubble-like shields over each of his targets. My dive to safety was accompanied by another reverberating shockwave from Rufus and a distant, pained shriek.

I sat behind the boxes, hearing some gunfire while I caught my breath. I looked over to the corner of the room and it seemed as if much of the gunfire allotted to keeping the trainer pinned down had been reassigned to keeping me and my team under control. With little thought, I took a risk and sprinted to the other side of the chamber, only being hit once in the side by a stray bullet.

When I reached ten feet from the crates, a yellow furry mass hurdled over them and landed in front of me. With a snarl, it slammed an electric fist into my chest and flung me backwards. I tumbled back as Rufus snarled in challenge before releasing a stream of fire at the new adversary. When I came to a stop, I looked up to see an Electabuzz fleeing from Rufus back into the quarter-circle of crates with singed fur.

Luckily for me, Dante had been shielding me. That punch might have been fatal if I had not been protected. Instead, I was left with a large bruise across my chest. I groaned angrily and crawled behind a crate, with Rufus falling back to my side protectively.

Most of the gunfire was still focused on me so I cursed and said, "Rufus, Charge-pulse, then Flamethrower," and pointed to a group of six Meteors taking cover behind a few crates on the other side of the room. Rufus's body started to heat up and the temperature rose ten degrees around me before he shot forward with his body wreathed in flames. He reached the group of terrorists in less than two seconds and slammed into one of them, sending and audible _crack_ resounding through the room. Without stopping, Rufus then sent out a dark pulse bubble.

The blackness hit every Meteor in a ten-foot radius and knocked them off of their feet. Rufus then bathed all of the prone terrorists in fire, resulting in a cacophony of agonized shrieks. Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Gilles was terrorizing another group of terrorists. I was alerted to his terrorization by a host of coughing men and women.

I looked over and saw a group of four Meteors coated with black liquid, and then Gilles' face appeared before them, vomiting out another putrid black liquid. Once the black liquid touched the Meteors' bodies, they let out bloodcurdling shrieks and fell to the ground convulsing, spitting out blackened blood.

A pained yelp broke my attention on Gilles and I looked over to see a new group of Meteors standing in the bottom of a stairwell. They had rifles leveled at Rufus and were concentrating their fire on him. Rufus had little to hide behind and was being pummeled by the vicious spray of lead before he fell to the ground. My heart skipped a beat and I returned him to his pokeball, seeing his health at 7%.

Rufus's near death experience fueled the fire behind my rage even more, and I released Azrael, pointing his pokeball's laser pointer right beside the entering group of Meteors. He appeared with a pissed off roar, and immediately tore into the group of terrorists. They all screamed in surprise before they were cut down in flurry of claws, fire, and teeth. Azrael sustained more bullet wounds, as Dante had not been given a chance to re-summon a protective barrier around him.

But Azrael did not falter or wait for Dante include him in the barrier. He surged across the room towards a smaller group of three Meteors and drew their fire from me. Azrael's enormous size was a blight on his health for once, as it was not difficult for the Meteors to hit him. The bullets, however, did not injure him as much as I expected them to. The lead pellets peppered his skin, which pissed him off more and more, eventually forcing him into a frenzied state which I had not seen him enter in a long time.

Azrael bellowed and the entire building shook. Since I was in a similar state, myself, I was not as nervous as I should have been. After all, Azrael just caused an earthquake while we were under a concrete building. Portions of the room caved in and Azrael let loose a hyper beam which disintegrated a large, rough hole into a horrified Meteor.

I only realized my own danger in the structure when a nearby pillar splintered. With a curse, I forced myself to run away from it before the ceiling collapsed. Azrael had gone out of control, and I returned him before he killed everyone, including me. Portions of the room were on fire, and the smoke was beginning to coalesce at the top of the room, raising the temperature in the room quickly. At that time, I released Ceto beside me.

"Ceto, I need you to put out the fires and use Scald-gun on the remaining Meteors." She wasted no time pouring water over the larger fires. Then I shouted, "Dante, re-summon the barrier!"

_Yes, J'Kun, _Dante said in my mind. The mental words were strained, as if he was expending much effort. The barrier fell, and before it could come back, Ceto was hit in the side by a stray bullet. I prepared to recall her, but she turned to face the source of the metal slug with a very pissed-off expression emblazoned on her face. When she found her attacker, she let out a high-pressured, boiling stream of water at him.

The scalding water gun hit the man in the face and broke his neck backwards. She then turned to another and repeated the process. When she finally finished, five more Meteors had broken necks and burned, bubbling skin on their faces. Taken aback, I looked at her health and saw that the bullet had taken 15% of her health. She hovered back to me, the barrier shimmering around her.

"Good job, Ceto," I said, turning my attention to assessing the situation again. Ceto angrily huffed in response, looking for another Meteor. At that point in time, not many Meteors remained alive. Few enough remained that the Electabuzz hurtled over the barricade once more and sprinted on all fours towards the closest terrorist to the staircase. Upon reaching him, the Electabuzz punched him in the chest with an electric _crack, _and the man fell back. The Electabuzz then turned to meet another Meteor who had just shot it in the back and opened its palm. A powerful bolt of electricity passed into the terrorist, causing the terrorist's hands to catch fire and his eyes to pop like red balloons.

After that, the Electabuzz let out a feline roar and another figure emerged from behind the barricade. After violently kicking out one of the crates, a Machoke then ran out while carrying a boy on its back. It headed to the staircase in front of which the Electabuzz was waiting. En route, the Machoke glanced over at me and Ceto but kept running.

The Electabuzz also looked at me and Ceto and gave me an incomprehensible look before bounding up the stairs in front of the Machoke. There were still around six Meteors remaining, and they continued to fire their rifles as us, but Gilles and Ceto dispatched them quickly. Afterwards, I called out to Dante, who dropped the barrier and walked out of the tunnel towards me with a small amount of lethargy.

_J'Kun, there are more above us. The Yeshku and his companions are under duress, _the loyal Gallade told me.

"Thank you, Dante," I replied quickly before hurrying to the staircase. I heard more gunfire coming from above and the roar of the Electabuzz. My body ached but I willed it to move, fueled by an overpowering desire to stop the Meteors and protect someone from them. Dante followed behind me, Ceto beside me, and Gilles above me.

We climbed the stairs quickly, Dante erecting another barrier around us, and when we reached the top, we met with a similar environment. It was a wide open floor with a few cave-ins. Crates were organized for efficiency in rows, though, and Meteors were positioned behind them, using the gaps between them to fire their weapons. The Machoke and Electabuzz had taken cover behind the back row of crates, and the Machoke had collapsed a portion of it to block their left flank.

Soon after I appeared at the top of the staircase, my presence was noticed. "What the hell? There's another one!?" I heard. I dodged a spray of bullets and then heard, "Is that the same kid!?"

I did not hear much after, for one Meteor had thrown a flashbang grenade and caught me by surprise. The world went bright and a shrill ringing exploded in my head. When I came to, my pokemon were standing around me protectively, taking bullets in my defense.

_J'Kun, we cannot stay here!_ a voice said amidst my clouded thoughts. I looked around and saw that, even though my team was protecting me with their bodies, they had not recovered from the flashbang. The same was true for the other trainer and his pokemon.

Through hazy and incoherent vision, I saw a Meteor run up to the barricade, jump over the crates, and put a handgun up to the back of the Machoke's head. I did not hear the gun fire, but I saw the Machoke's right eye blow out from its head and its body drop to the ground. The trainer who had been carried by the Machoke fell to the ground as well.

The trainer had bloody spots on two different parts of his body, which explained why he was being carried. It also explained why he did not rise from the floor. Instead, he froze, and I saw the Meteor raise his gun, the trainer's eyes widen, and blood splatter on the floor underneath the trainer's head.

The Meteor did not have a chance to finish the Electabuzz, for before the Meteor could aim his gun at the electric feline's head, it had turned him into a meat battery. When the electricity hit the Meteor, the lights above flickered. I felt sick, but I forced out the words, "Gilles, the lights."

The overhead lights then began to progressively shatter, darkening the room more and more. By the time the lights were all destroyed, my hearing had returned, albeit severely strained. In the darkness, Gilles ran rampant and unhindered through the forces of the Meteors. Screams of pain rang out in the darkness, and I could see silhouettes being torn apart.

A single source of light pierced the darkness as the door to the outside opened, and I saw a Meteor enter holding a rifle. I drew an arrow and shot the man in the chest, but two more terrorists entered after him. One's head bent back at an unordinary angle after a jet of water him, and the other fell to the ground seizing from a bolt of electricity. The Electabuzz ran through the open door right after.

Before things could become worse, I ran over to the fallen trainer's body and searched for his PokeDex. Finding none, I snatched his pokeballs and ran to the open door. Outside, I found a building on fire, another collapsing, and around 15 Meteors shooting at another building. I also saw one man directing the terrorists' fire and I immediately assumed that he was some sort of leader.

_J'Kun! That one is not empty! _Dante exclaimed in my mind. At the same time, the man looked over to us and locked eyes with me. A look of confusion passed over his face, and then a look of fear before he yelled something and pointed at me. Then he turned and started to run toward the helicopter on the landing pad.

Half of the Meteors redirected their fire at us and I yelled, "Dante, keep us safe! Gilles get that man! Ceto, help Azrael!" I then took out Azrael's ball and released him in the midst of the Meteors' forces. Azrael emerged still enraged and sent a large wave of earth surging out from under him in all directions. The bulldoze hit every Meteor in a twenty-foot radius and sent them flying back. Many of them were also buried by the wave of dirt.

Azrael then started using various attacks to dismember helpless Meteors while Ceto sniped others. All the while, I ran to intercept the man who was running to the helicopter. Before he could reach the helicopter, though, Gilles pulled through and appeared in front of him, forcing him to stop in a hypnotized daze.

Without missing a beat, I pulled out another arrow bolt and shot the leader in the thigh. The man fell down to the dirt and shook off the hypnotism. In triumph, I looked down at him with disgust, but he rolled over and leveled a handgun from his hip. My mind hardly registered what was happening as he pulled the trigger, but the bullet passed through the barrier and hit me in the forehead. With an unrealized gasp, I fell back and lost consciousness.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

I blinked and my vision cleared. There was pained groaning coming from beside me. Other than that, all was silent. I painfully sat up and looked around.

Dante was standing over the Meteor leader who was cradling the smoldering stump of his right arm in his left. Ceto and Gilles were hovering directly above him, staring him down. Azrael was laying on the ground thirty feet away.

_J'Kun, are you well!? _Dante asked, his mental voice hysterical.

I groaned as my body protested from movement. I did not remember what had happened, so I said, "I think I'll be fine. What happened?"

_The earth wyrm needs your help. He has collapsed from combat, _he informed me hurriedly.

I shook off some of my confusion and returned Azrael, finding his health at 2%. I immediately felt anxious when I saw that and said, "Legendaries… What the hell…?"

Dante remained quiet, but the silence was broken by the sound of quickened footfalls. I looked up to see Keith sprinting across the clearing towards me with his Luxray. He reached me and exclaimed, "Mother of Mew! What the hell happened to you?"

I gave him a confused look and I saw his eyes move to my forehead. I then reached up and touched a sore spot, earning me a pounding headache. The migraine also brought memories of what had happened previously. Without thinking about how close I came to death, and how Dante's barrier kept me alive, I was filled with anger once more, and I looked over to the injured Meteor.

"Zach, calm down!" Keith yelled when I drew my knife and made a move towards the Meteor, glaring at the man. "Dude, he's down!"

_J'Kun, this one is not empty. You told us to stop him. I assume it was for a reason, _Dante said, his eyes glowing. His tone suggested displeasure, but I had a feeling that his displeasure was not centered on me. It seemed as if he was displeased with not being allowed to kill the terrorist leader.

"Zach! Come on!" Keith yelled again, stepping in front of me and shaking my arm.

Keith's intervention jarred me from my rage and I realized that I was ready to slit the man's throat. I sheathed my knife embarrassedly and said, "We need to get this bastard to the league."

"No shit," Keith said. "What the hell, man? You just about killed him."

"It's no worse than he deserves," I muttered, and then I kicked him in the ribs.

"Whoa! Not cool, dude! You don't get to decide what he deserves. That is for people much higher up than us," Keith said angrily.

"Maybe," I said, trying to end the conversation. "I'm sorry, alright?"

"Just… dude. Anyway, where's that trainer we came to rescue?" he asked.

"He's dead," I said quietly, remembering over again what happened.

"What?"

"He's dead, alright!?" I yelled. "I tried to save him, but his pokemon kept me from approaching him!" I barely felt tears starting to run down my face. "They carried him away! We were almost out, but… Those bastards! They had a flash grenade! I couldn't help when it went off!" By the end of my explanation, I was crying.

"Zach, you did what you could, alright?" Keith said, changing his tone. "Your heart was in the right place."

My tears stopped flowing as I registered his words. My heart might have been in the right place as far as the trainer was concerned, but I was still confused as to what came over me with the Meteors. I looked into Keith's blue eyes and said with a serious tone, "Keith. Thank you for helping here."

Keith was visibly struck by how quickly I changed paces. "U-um, no problem. It's over now, I think." I nodded and leaned back, noting once more how much my body hurt. "So, uh, who was the trainer?"

"Don't know. He didn't have a 'Dex on him. These are his pokeballs," I said, showing them to Keith. "There was a dead Heracross in the basement and his Machoke was killed upstairs. The Electabuzz managed to escape, but I didn't see where it went."

"Oh…" Keith responded. "That makes sense. An Electabuzz kinda killed one of the Meteors who was shooting at me. It was pretty beaten up, and it collapsed beside that building, there after taking a few hits." Keith pointed at the burning building.

I groaned again and heaved myself up to my feet. "Dante, watch over this… _thing_," I said, looking down at the Meteor leader. Dante's eyes glowed green in acknowledgement and I trudged over to where Keith had pointed.

Keith did not follow me. I walked around the building and found the Electabuzz's body lying in the grass with red splotches of fur. "You really hit me hard…" I murmured, nursing the bruise on my chest. "I tried to help… You know, I get it, though. I'm sure Azrael wouldn't let anyone near me if I was hurt. I'm sorry I couldn't do more." I kneeled down over the corpse and ran a hand over a patch of singed yellow fur.

When my hand touched the coarse hair, I felt my own hair stand up from static, and, to my utter surprise, I felt the creature move. Its breathing was belabored and weak, but it was still alive. Without thinking, I brought a potion out of my vest and sprayed it on a bullet wound. The bullet ejected from the wound and the wound healed over, but there were many more. I took two more potions and tended to two more bullet wounds. With three wounds healed, the Electabuzz was still injured. However, it looked as if it would likely pull through, so I painfully hurried back to center of the clearing.

Keith was standing in the entrance of the building in which I fought the Meteors when I arrived at the side of the helicopter. "Keith, the Electabuzz is still alive!" I yelled, "I gave him a couple potions, but he's still in bad shape."

"Zach, what happened in here?" Keith asked, his voice low and wavering. Luke was peering into the building around Keith's side.

"The same thing that happened out here," I replied, confused as to why Keith sounded so disturbed.

"Zach, this is just… You did all of this by yourself?" He was gazing at the corpse of a Meteor with an arrow sticking out from his chest.

"Well, I had my team's help," I replied.

"This is… it's-" Keith stopped speaking, turned away from the building's entrance, and purged the contents of his stomach. I ran over to Keith and put a hand on his back, but he batted my hand away. "I-I need a moment," he forced out. Luke was looking intensely at me at the same time, but I ignored him. "I've never seen such… _butchery_."

Keith then looked at me as if I was a rabid Granbull and I faltered. "Keith, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Dude, you slaughtered them! They were people!" Keith exclaimed.

"People? These are NOT _people_," I retorted, my voice rising. "They are empty husks that only want to kill other people! They have no souls!"

"Really. I get that they were terrorists, but they were still people," he said, but I cut him off.

"You're wrong! These things left all humanity behind them."

"How would you know that!?" Keith responded angrily.

"Because I've seen it!" I yelled, but then I lowered my voice. "I've _seen _what goes on in their minds. There's no humanity left."

"Dude, I don't know what you've been through, but this is too much for me. I don't know what to think… If you feel that way about them, then why did you spare that one?" he asked, pointing at the prone Meteor.

"Dante could detect more than emptiness in him…" I replied. "He might be useful to the League."

"If what you're saying is true, then maybe you're right. But I still can't deal with this. I'm going to walk back to the route and wait for help. I can't be here right now." Keith was breathing rapidly and he looked like he was about to pass out.

"Alright. Then I'll stay here," I replied.

Keith nodded and walked without another word. I was left standing next to Gilles, Dante, and Ceto in somewhat of an awkward silence. To escape it, I asked Ceto and Gilles to watch over the Meteor and took Dante with me to the injured Electabuzz.

It was conscious when we arrived at its side, but it continued to lie still in the grass. "Hi, it's me from before," I said. The electric feline only groaned in response.

_He asks why you helped him out here instead of leaving him to die, _Dante translated.

"Because we survived this. It would be a waste of your life to just let you bleed out," I replied.

The feline sighed and Dante said, _He says that he failed to protect his friend, and that it would have been better for you to have let him die. _

"I don't agree with you," I asserted. "You know, we came to help you, but we also failed. The weapons that were used against us stopped us from succeeding. We _both_ failed. But I don't think that the world is a better place without you."

_He says that he was raised for most of his life by his friend. He does not know what to do._

"At the very least, you now have the opportunity to make your own decisions. But I'll tell you what - If you want, you can travel with me and my team until you figure out what you want to do," I offered.

The Electabuzz was tranquil for a few moments before it sat up. Dante once again spoke to me. _He says that he will stay with us for now. _

With a solemn smile, I welcomed him to my team. I would need to go through some work to get the Electabuzz transferred to me after the League showed up, but it had agreed to be a part of my squad. I now had the final slot on my team filled.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Within half an hour, the Meteor base was crawling with League officials. The first officials to show up were Champion Volker, Aoro, 3rd Elite McGall, and 2nd Elite Barnes, and they showed up with Keith in tow. Champion Volker and Jean Barnes, the steel elite, immediately rushed off into separate buildings. Aoro stayed beside me and Kain McGall, the psychic elite, looked me in the eyes after peering over my face.

"Zachariah MacAfee?"

"Yes," I responded.

"Return your pokemon and explain the situation," he demanded. He had arrived with an Alakazam and an Espeon and both of them scrutinized me sternly with glowing eyes. I complied, but the Electabuzz still remained outside of his ball, huddled on the ground. "All of them, trainer," the Elite demanded.

"Sir, this Electabuzz isn't technically mine. It belonged to a trainer who died here," I said with as much care as possible.

3rd Elite McGall fixed me with a long stare before saying, "Very well. Explain what happened here."

I exhaled and said, "My Gallade detected a person in trouble. He told me that it was a trainer and he was fighting his way away from Meteors, so I tried to help. I knew that the League would take too long to show up, so I sent a message to Leader Craul and took action." While I spoke, both of the officials examined me closely.

"We burrowed underneath the building where my Gallade had detected the trainer and found ourselves in the middle of a firefight. Some of my pokemon were hit but I fought to draw the Meteors' attention away from the trainer, who was pinned down behind some crates. I tried to help the trainer, but I had to defend myself at the same time, and when enough of them were down, the trainer and his pokemon made a run for it up the stairs.

"Then, when I ran up the stairs after them, the trainer was pinned down again. The Meteors… They had grenades and were able to kill the trainer and his Machoke. From there, I was still in danger, so I fought my way out. When I left the building, my Gallade pointed out that this one wasn't as "empty-minded" as the rest. So, I stopped him from reaching the helicopter and was knocked out in the process."

Aoro stared at me in shocked disbelief. Elite McGall continued to stare, but asked after a while, "How do you know about their mindlessness?"

"This isn't the first time I've encountered the Meteors. Or fought them for that matter. The Champion knows about that and can attest to it…"

"I see," stated the Elite flatly. He then whispered something into Aoro's ear and Aoro frowned. They turned away and walked about ten feet while the Elite's pokemon watched me intensely. Aoro and the Elite talked quietly so that I could not hear them.

Keith did not speak beside me. Before long, the Champion walked out of the building in which the trainer had fallen. His expression was hard as he made a Combee-line straight to me.

"MacAfee," he said. But before he could say more, Aoro and Elite McGall returned and drew his attention. After a brief conversation during which the 2nd Elite returned from another building, Champion Volker said to Elite McGall, "You will take the Meteor and extract his memories. Jean, accompany him. Be wary; you know what happened last time we caught a lucid one. Also, before you get started, send Pierce."

The two Elites nodded and then disappeared with the 3rd Elites' psychic pokemon and the Meteor leader. Around that time, Ace trainers were appearing in the vicinity accompanied with psychic pokemon. After the Elites left, the Champion released Glemdrin, who rose to his hind legs and overlooked the facility. The Champion then released his Charizard, which took to the air and started making wide circles in the sky.

"You look like you've been through hell, kid," Aoro said to me, looking me over.

"I might as well have been," I muttered, not meeting his eyes. Champion Volker interrupted us by walking up to me.

"MacAfee, you will accompany me." Then he turned to Aoro. "Aoro, direct the Aces to start searching the buildings. When Pierce arrives inform him of the situation and allow him to assist you."

"Yes, sir," Aoro responded before running in long strides to the growing group of Special Forces personnel.

The League Champion then took the fallen trainer's pokeballs from me and used his PokeDex in tandem with them to recall the Electabuzz. After the Electabuzz disappeared, the Champion led me back to the place where I had killed so many people. "Is it true? You told Elite McGall that you fought through here? With just your pokemon and the other trainer?"

I told him I did. He walked into the building with me and asked, "So I'm to believe that this bloody battleground in here is mostly your doing?" I nodded weakly. With a big sigh, the Champion said, "What am I going to do with you? You killed so many people here. They were terrorists… But the League does not condone the wanton slaughter of anyone."

I tried to reason with him. "Sir, it was mostly in self-defense. They were trying to kill me and I was trying to save an innocent trainer."

"First, MacAfee, you cannot be certain who the trainer was or what his connection to the Meteors was. Second, you willingly put yourself in this situation. You knew full-well what kind of dangers you would be facing. This is the territory of the Ranger Corps and the Ace Trainer Corps. As a junior trainer, you do _not _have the right to undertake these kinds of operations."

I did not have anything to respond. "As it is, however, you _have_ performed a great service here," the Champion said, changing paces. "That man is the second lucid Meteor we have caught. The first was killed before the law was passed which allows us to mentally extract memories. You have given us a chance to trace his memories to their key operations. Best case scenario is that we take them down. As far as the trainer is concerned, you are probably correct in assuming that the trainer might not have survived until we arrived. But the fact of the matter is that he still died. Whether or not it was because of your intervention is uncertain. The fact is that you intervened and he died. You make my job more difficult than any other junior trainer, MacAfee."

I continued to remain quiet. "Do you remember what I told you last time you were involved with the Meteors?" he asked. We had stopped above the bodies of the trainer and the Machoke. I told him I did. "Well I will repeat myself anyway. Part of my job is to ensure the protection of civilization from the hostile threat of pokemon and those who use them. You are quickly establishing yourself as a hostile threat and I would much prefer you not to end up like the monsters you killed today. You are walking a fine line, MacAfee.

"You can rest easy for now, though. Kain could not find anything wrong with your story as far as your reasons for showing up. However, there were apparently complications with his ability to see your intentions. Since you have done the country a service, I will return the favor and avoid taking action against you. But be warned; you have officially caught the League's eye. I suggest you make wise decisions in the future. I do not want you to lose your soul, MacAfee. Do you understand me?"

"Completely, sir," I responded.

"Good. Then take a look around you and see what you are capable of, MacAfee. This is the kind of power we are capable of unleashing upon the world. It is not to be used lightly, and taking life – no matter whose life – is not a light matter. Remember that the next time you are faced with a difficult decision. And remember that these kinds of situations are best left to those who are trained to make the tough decisions. The Ace trainers exist for a reason, and if you want to bear the burden of their responsibility, then you should consider joining them. Until then, keep your nose clean."

With that said, Champion Volker led me out of the building which was so filled with death. "Sir, the Electabuzz had shown a desire to accompany me," I said along the way. "How does the League deal with forsaken pokemon?"

The Champion stopped and said, "Not that I don't believe you, but I can't just transfer ownership of a pokemon to you. The easiest way to figure this out would be to set it free and let it decide to let you catch it. But before we can do that, we need to figure out the identity of the trainer." Champion Volker released his Xatu and then released the Electabuzz. After a brief mental interchange, the Xatu nodded and the Champion thanked the Electabuzz. He then took the Electabuzz's ball, entered some information into its holopanel, and gave it to the yellow pokemon.

The Electabuzz looked at the pokeball in its hands and then presented it to me. "Well that solves that," the Champion declared. "Though, that ball is now inoperable. You will need to re-catch him."

I thanked the Champion and brought out a pokeball. As I presented it to the Electabuzz, Aoro returned. While the Electabuzz burst into red energy, Aoro addressed the Champion. "Champion, we've found stores of stolen pokeballs, munitions, and a couple captives."

"Very good. MacAfee, you can go. We have much to do here. Remember what I've told you and don't make me regret my decision." With that, the Champion walked away.

Before Aoro left as well, he said to me, "The Champion's Xatu will transport you to the closest city – Fuchsia. Please stay out of trouble." I nodded and thanked him before Keith joined me and the Xatu teleported us away from the Meteor camp.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The news played over the television and the bustling sounds of PokeCenter staff filled the otherwise tranquil room. We had been teleported to a Fuchsia Pokemon Center, and after we had taken a shower, we both decided to relax in the lounge. Keith and I had not spoken for a while, so I eventually broke the silence between us. "Can you believe that PME is now legal?" I asked.

"A lot of things are unbelievable lately…" he responded distantly.

Growing concerned and frustrated, I said, "Keith, can we just put what happened behind us? This…" I found it difficult to vocalize my thoughts.

"Zach, I am trying to forget about what happened," he said quickly. "I want to know something, though. You said you saw what they thought. What did you mean by that?"

After a brief pause, I sighed and said, "I had Dante psychically extract memories from a Meteor. You have no idea just how soulless they are."

Keith was bewildered. After another brief pause, he said, "I'm sure you know that that was highly illegal. Why did you do it?"

I sighed again and resigned myself to explaining to Keith what had happened during the first Meteor incident. It took a while, but when I finished, Keith had a new appreciation for my view of the Meteors.

"…Wow," he said. "I guess that explains a lot. I can't believe that the Senator's brother was captured." He heaved a sigh. "I still don't know what to think about it all. This day has been so messed up."

"Yeah. Well we can at least focus on what's ahead of us, now," I said optimistically. "Now that we are in Fuchsia, we can sign up for the gym. Also, your parents live here, right? You can visit them."

"Yeah, I can. It's been a while since I've seen them… I want to take a break for a few days before I sign up for the gym," said Keith.

"That's alright," I said. "I want to challenge the gym as soon as possible, but I'll wait for you to beat the gym before I leave." Keith thanked me and I opened the League website on my PokeDex to begin filling out a reservation for the Fuchsia gym.

Before I finished, I received a message from Aoro. It read, _Hey Zachariah. I thought you should know that the trainer's name was Brendon Sherwin. He had five badges and was last seen outside of Saffron a month ago. His family was notified. Good luck at the Fuchsia gym._

I relayed the message to Keith and then returned to placing my challenge. Ten minutes later, I had scheduled a battle for the day after the next. I figured that it would be enough time for my pokemon to recover. I would receive them from the center later that night, and we would have an entire day to rest and prepare.

Keith left that night to go home while I stayed at the PokeCenter. After having my pokemon returned to me, I released them down in the activity cavern. When I released Azrael, he groaned and lowered his head to me in shame. "Azrael, we survived. Don't be ashamed. It was unfortunate that you lost your temper, but we are all better off now. We have a new teammate." I rubbed the top of his head as I spoke.

Azrael looked surprised to hear the last bit of information. "That's right. The trainer we were trying to rescue; his Electabuzz has joined us." Azrael then looked at me and I had the feeling that he was conveying doubt.

"He is not as strong as you all, but we can fix that. He may have failed to protect his trainer, but we failed to protect each other as well. Go easy on him, alright?" Azrael huffed at that and lay down on the ground right next to me. I noticed that most of his bullet wounds had healed over completely. Apart from a couple discolored marks on his scales, there was no evidence that Azrael had been shot.

I then released Rufus, who lethargically moved to my side and nuzzled my arm. I rubbed the back of his neck and the top of his head before he lay down beside Azrael. His bullet wounds were also healed over, which I was thankful for.

I then released Dante, who bowed his head to me. I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "Thank you, Dante. I'm sorry if I frightened you. I don't know what came over me."

_I appreciate your apology, J'Kun. But I believe it is I who must apologize. I wish I could have done more to help. I wish I could have completely stopped the mindless ones' flying metal_, Dante replied.

I laughed at that and said, "Dante, you were fantastic. Without you, I would have died ten times over today. I can tolerate pain. You don't think I'm that frail, do you?"

_No, J'Kun, _Dante said flatly. He did not say anything else but I could tell that he was brooding over something.

"What is wrong, Dante," I asked, concerned about him.

_It is nothing I can voice, _he replied. _My apologies, J'Kun._

"Is it something I should worry about? Will you be alright?" I asked.

_You are still my J'Kun. You have nothing to worry about. This is my own struggle._

"Dante, we are a family. My struggle is our struggle. Your struggle is mine and your fellow teammates' as well," I told him, looking him in the eyes.

_Thank you, J'Kun... _Responded Dante, sincerely. He then paused for a moment before saying, _I'm afraid that my actions may have done more bad than good. I am conflicted about this._

"As far as I'm concerned, Dante, you protected your family and helped us attempt to protect those who could not protect themselves. Even if we failed, we still tried, and that is more than anyone else can say," I said.

_But there is more to it than that, J'Kun. I _wanted _to purge them. I _wanted _to deliver justice upon them._

I sighed and finally acknowledged my own concealed feelings on the matter. "Dante, I wanted that as well. But the situation would have been much more different if there was no one to rescue. We would have contacted the League."

_But the situation was not different. It was convenient for our family to kill when we had a goal to achieve. But the underlying sentiment can't be ignored. I helped you indulge those sentiments._

"You think you are a bad influence?" I asked with a laugh. "I see what you mean when you referred to this as a struggle. For now, just know that I don't want to become a monster. You felt the same as I did, and so we will just have to work on it together. That's what family does."

…_You're right, J'Kun. I am sorry for my lack of confidence in confiding with you, _Dante replied. He was smiling and his eyes were glowing slightly. I grasped his shoulder once more and then released Ceto.

Ceto bowed her head to me, her expression serious. "Ceto, thank you for helping me," I said, rubbing her crest. She squeaked and blew a few bubbles onto my face before hovering over to a small pond. I smiled after her and then released Gilles, who stretched out his shadowy arms and giggled. "You were truly a terror, Gilles," I said, earning me another creepy giggle.

"Alright, everyone!" I announced. "We have a new teammate. He's been through a lot, like we have, but he just lost his trainer. Go easy on him and welcome him in."

My pokemon responded without a great amount of enthusiasm, which I attributed to how tired they must have felt. I then released the Electabuzz. "Hey there, welcome to the team. This is everyone."

I introduced all of my pokemon to the newcomer and then said, "So what did your trainer call you?" The Electabuzz only slumped in sadness.

_He does not want his old name anymore. He wants a new name_, Dante asserted.

"So, you want to begin anew. Rise from the ashes?" I asked. The Electabuzz nodded. "Hmm," I pondered. "Then, if you have no objection, I will call you Lazarus." The yellow feline nodded again. "Wonderful, now, if you wouldn't mind, why don't you show me what fighting techniques you know."

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

"Trainer, I am Diane Mulback. Welcome to the Fuchsia City gym. Here, things work a little differently. You don't just get to challenge Leader Fulton. First, you must prove that you are strong enough. You must beat me before you can progress."

A woman in her late thirties stood in front of me. She had long black hair and blue eyes, she wore black pants and a purple shirt, and she had fixed me with a scrutinizing gaze. "You are Keith's mother, aren't you?" I asked, and she nodded. "Out of curiosity," I asked, "Isn't earning the Marsh Badge enough proof that I'm ready?"

"No, it isn't," Diane replied. "I have different pokemon with different strengths. You have beaten psychics, but poison-types are different. You need to prove that you can stand against higher-level poison types before you face the leader. It prevents many deaths in the ring. Now, on to the business at hand. The difference in this battle is that it is a two-on-two fight. No substitutions and no items. Choose your contestants and prepare yourself."

It was an easy choice for me. Ground types and psychic types were both highly effective against poison types, so I chose Azrael and Dante. I started with Azrael, who appeared with a roar, but Diane did not show any surprise or trepidation. She released an Ariados at the same time. The signal to start was given and I stomped the ground, sliding my foot forwards.

Azrael burrowed, but he was hit by a small spike before he could become fully submerged. It was flung by the Ariados, who was starting to multiply into separate visages. But before it could completely separate from the images, Azrael burst from the ground underneath it. The Ariados was flung into the air, while I continued to issue orders. Azrael kept up the pressure and prevented the Ariados from acting. When the spider landed, it was hit with a strong bulldoze and halfway buried. Then Azrael began to spew flames over it while it shook off the dirt. Before long, Azrael had burnt it into submission and it was returned.

Diane released a Crobat next, and it flitted up into the air upon materialization. I yelled commands and Azrael began flinging large rocks at his adversary. The Crobat dodged them and swooped down to deliver a nasty bite onto Azrael's left arm. On its way back into the air, Azrael hit one of its arms. It erratically faltered in the air but caught itself quickly. It then turned back to attack again.

The Crobat quickly dodged more thrown rocks and sliced Azrael across the neck with its sharpened wing claw. The cut was not deep and did not threaten any of Azrael's veins, but I could tell from my spot that Azrael was beginning to feel the effects of various poisons. His movements were sluggish and the rocks he was flinging were becoming smaller.

Azrael turned the tide of the fight, however, when the Crobat flew in for its third attack. Azrael met its attack with the bulb on his head, slamming it against the Crobat's bladed wing. Azrael was unharmed, but the head-butt stunned the four-winged bat. The Crobat fell to the ground, Azrael's claw glowed with draconic energy, and he jabbed forward into it. The blow pierced the bat's skin and it cried out in pain. It was recalled soon after.

"Congratulations, trainer. You now have proven that you are strong enough to challenge the gym leader," Diane said. "Keith was not exaggerating; you are intense."

"How is he?" I asked. "We've had a tough time."

"He won't tell me anything, but he seems to be doing well. Can _you _tell me what's happened?" she asked.

"Honestly, Mrs. Mulback, I think it would be best if he tells you once he's ready. I wouldn't rob him of that," I responded.

Diane was visibly frustrated, but she said, "Well, thank you for your loyalty to him. Good luck against Miss Fulton."

I thanked her and left, taking time to stop by the registration desk to schedule my actual gym battle. It was for three days' time. It came as a surprise to me that the wait was so long since the badge level was so high, but my confusion was abated the next morning at the Pokemon Center.

I heard a knock at my door early in the morning and opened it to find two people standing before me. One of them held a video camera and the other held a microphone. The man with the microphone held out his hand and said, "Bryan Hills, LeagueWatch. Are you Zachariah MacAfee?"

I nodded and shook his hand. "Would you mind a quick interview for the viewers? I promise it will not take long; we interview all new challengers to Leader Fulton."

I agreed and they waited for me to get fully dressed before conducting the interview in the PokeCenter lounge. "We are here today to speak with Zachariah MacAfee, the newest challenger to the Fuchsia gym," the reporter opened. "Mr. MacAfee here carries an undefeated gym record, and is this year's Junior Indigo Champion. How do you feel about your upcoming battle?"

"I feel good about it," I said.

"I bet!" the reporter said enthusiastically. "What have you been up to since the JIC?"

"I've been training out along the southwestern routes."

"Do you think all the training has fully prepared you for the Fuchsia gym?" he asked.

"Well, I wouldn't challenge the gym if I didn't think I would win," I said, annoyed.

"Of course, of course! No doubt your starter will prove most effective against Leader Fulton's poison types." Bryan then looked at the camera. "For those of you who did not watch the JIC this year, Mr. MacAfee's starter was a monstrous Garchomp. If you beat the gym, what will be your plans?" He asked, looking back at me.

"I will start training for the next. I will Island-hop to Cinnabar and then challenge its gym," I replied.

"Wonderful! Well, good luck Mr. MacAfee. That's all the time we have. Don't forget to tune into Fuchsia LeagueWatch in two days at noon to see Mr. MacAfee's battle!" He finished with a broad smile and shook my hand again before bidding me farewell.

I returned to my room and retrieved my PokeDex, finding a message waiting. It was from Sheila. In the message, she told me that she finally earned her seventh Hoenn badge. She barely passed the challenge, though, and her sister had come to watch. With that win, Sheila had passed where her sister had stopped in the League. She also only had one gym remaining.

I congratulated her and wished her luck on the last gym. I also told her about my impending gym battle and the introduction of Lazarus to my team. Then I sent a message to my parents letting them know about my match. Afterwards, I made plans to train outside of city limits until the day of my battle.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

_The room was wavy and tinted red. I was sitting in a chair looking at a painting of Raeda on the wall. Her screams echoed around the room, but I could not see the source of the shrieks. Though the more I looked at the paining on the wall, the more lifelike it appeared. Eventually, I saw the wings in the painting flutter. Before I knew it, Raeda was climbing out of the painting, paint dripping off of her body. _

_I made a move to stand up but found myself bound to the chair. Raeda's screams intensified as the blurred painting-like Raeda crawled down the wall and across the floor to me. I couldn't scream. I couldn't move. She crawled up my leg and up my shirt until she was looking me in the eyes. Her mandibles clattered together and sent shivers down my spine. _

_Next, Raeda shoved one of her claws over my eye, and I felt an intense pain. I trembled in the chair as I felt her trying to tear apart my face. Suddenly, as if by a burst of adrenaline, I shook my head violently and tossed her off. She hit the ground and splattered like a paintball. Her screams reverberated around the room at exponential levels and then-_

I woke up in a cold sweat with my head pounding. It was the morning of my battle. All I could think was, "No, not now…" The Meteor incident already weighed heavily on my mind, and I did not need the added stress of defending myself against a malicious ghost.

With a groan, I sat up and looked at my clock. It showed 3:23 A.M. Curiously, Rufus had not started growling or made any protective move whatsoever. He was roused by my change of position, but he did not look as if he sensed anything wrong.

"Rufus, I need you to keep an extra-watchful vigil from now on," I told him. His ears perked up and his eyes narrowed while he peered around the room. It seemed to me as if the Banette was growing stronger and was somehow keeping itself hidden from Rufus, which made me incredibly nervous.

I tried to go back to bed, but I found it difficult to remain asleep for more than an hour at a time. At 7:00, I decided that attempting to get more sleep was pointless, so I rose from the bed and took a shower. Afterwards, I gathered what I would need for the gym and left my room, bringing Rufus along with me. I paid for a hearty breakfast with multiple cups of coffee.

From there, I had Dante teleport me out of city limits so that we could hold a warmup practice before our gym battle. For the battle, I decided to use all of my pokemon with the exception of Lazarus. There were no pokemon on my team whose type was weak against poison, so I was very confident about the match. Lazarus would have made a good addition to the team for the battle, but I had not had the opportunity to direct him in a battle yet, and I did not think that it would be appropriate to have his first battle in a gym. I also did not want to put too much stress on him so soon after his trainer died.

After we finished, I gave a final pep talk before Dante teleported me back to the city. From there I signed in at the gym and waited an hour and a half for my match. The crowd had a higher turnout that day, which was noticeable from inside the waiting room. The cheers of the crowd nearly caused the building to vibrate. Apart from me, four other trainers were challenging that day.

I was scheduled to battle first, but I still needed to wait until noon. When I walked out onto the field, I understood why. Apparently, so few trainers challenge the Fuchsia gym on a regular basis that the gym schedules all challenges for the same day, and then makes a big deal out of it. It draws in a large crowd, and consequentially, a large amount of income, for that one day. Also, it is possible that with less-frequent challenges comes more hype from spectators.

The arena ground was dim, there were a couple pools of water, and there were a few small shrubs. Other than that, the field was grassy and barren. Karen Fulton stood at midfield with black leggings, a formfitting long-sleeved purple shirt, and a thick belt. She had shoulder-length black hair, jade eyes, and regarded me professionally, shaking my hand when I approached.

"Welcome to the Fuchsia City Gym, trainer. My name is Karen Fulton and I am its leader. Please link your PokeDex with mine," the gym leader told me. I complied and my statistics appeared on the large screens above us. "You may only use three healing items, you may only change out your pokemon three times, and you may not attack the spectators or me. Now take your position and good luck."

**Ladies and gentlemen, for our first fight, we have this year's JIC champion! **The crowd roared in excitement while I hurried over to my designated area and waited. When I was told, I released my first pokemon, Ceto. Leader Fulton released a gigantic writhing mass of sludge onto the field and I immediately gagged from its stench.

I also received flashbacks to the first Meteor incident, seeing the pre-evolutionary form of Leader Fulton's Muk swarming Prescott's motionless body. Leader Fulton did not wait for me to adjust to the Muk's overpowering presence. She yelled orders to her pokemon and the Muk launched a glob of sludge at Ceto, which she caught on her dense head plate. It did not seem to do any serious damage, but I could see the toxic sludge smearing in her eyes.

I knew that I would need to work fast. Muk poison is fast acting and severely crippling. "Surf-pump!" I yelled. "Then Ice Beam!" Ceto brought forth all of the water from the nearest pond and sent it crashing towards the Muk, which had minimized its size. However, it was still incapable of moving out of the way and was hit by the wave. As part of the move, Ceto had held back a portion of the wave in front of her and condensed it while the wave surged towards her opponent. As soon as the wave dispersed, she released the reserve of water as a powerful hydro pump, hitting the Muk in the center of its mass.

Chunks of muck flew from the wound and Ceto followed up with a beam of ice. It missed its target, though, because the Muk minimized itself again and scooted out of the way. "Brine!" I yelled, knowing that the Muk had absorbed some of the water into its body. Ceto managed to hit the creature and its body dispersed while wracked with spasms. It was recalled.

**The challenger has defeated Leader Fulton's first pokemon! **the announcer called out.

"Good job, trainer. Here is my next," the gym leader's voice rang out from the speaker beside me. She released a large purple moth next. I knew it as a Venomoth, and I knew that it also held very potent poison. Right off the bat, the Venomoth flung powder at Ceto and fluttered up into the air.

I was ready for an immediate action so I had given Ceto orders right off the bat as well. Before the powder hit her, she had blasted the Venomoth with a current of boiling water. Ceto immediately fell over onto the ground after the powder hit her and the Venomoth started pouring spores onto her. I recognized them as paralyzing spores, and knowing that she was also starting to suffer from the Muk's poison, I recalled her.

**The challenger has forfeited his Seadra! Who will he send out next?**

I sent out Rufus, knowing that he would be able to take out the bug quickly if he could avoid its bug-type attacks. "Charge-blast!" I yelled. Rufus shot forward like a bullet, wreathed in fire, and collided with the moth. The Venomoth was showered with flames. Then, while he was in close, Rufus inhaled in preparation to send a fiery ball at his adversary. Before he could however, despite its injuries, the Venomoth sent a beam of bug-type energy streaming into Rufus's face. Rufus recoiled in pain, but he managed to release the ball of fire right into the Venomoth's body at the same time.

I was not able to see the damage that the fireball wrought, for the gym leader recalled her Venomoth immediately. She proceeded to release a five-foot-tall bipedal frog with purple and maroon colorations while the commentator announced the Venomoth's defeat. What followed was an uplifting display of the development of Rufus's dark-melding skills.

The leader's Toxicroak sprang forward and attempted use a feint attack on Rufus, but Rufus somehow managed to counter the attack. His body took on a shadowy aspect in the dim lighting and he appeared beside the frog as it attacked to deliver a fiery bite to its arm. The Toxicroak then started lashing out with various fighting moves, but Rufus quickly moved away through the shadows.

When Rufus was far enough away, he released a torrent of fire and kept it trained on his opponent. The Toxicroak fled until it was no longer in range of the flamethrower, and I noticed that its back had caught fire. It rolled around on the ground to put out the fire, but in the meantime, I was issuing orders. Rufus powered up a hyper beam and sent it straight at his opponent, who disappeared into its pokeball at the last moment.

**Folks, that was an advanced dark-type technique! The trainer has now defeated all of the first round pokemon! **

"You have trained that Houndoom well, trainer," Leader Fulton told me. "It is no easy task to teach that technique. Granted, it was still rudimentary, but it was effective enough. Good job! Now, change out your pokemon for round two!" The gym leader then released a 20-foot-long purple snake. It had a colorful hood that flared out once it saw its opponent – a Gallade.

"Dante, keep your distance and use swords dance!" I called out. He teleported to a good distance and his blades started to glow. Dante then teleported away in order to avoid a stream of acid which had just been spat at him by his opponent. "Psycho-cuts, Dante!"

Dante sent psychic blades streaming at the Arbok, but the snake dodged half of them and leered horrifically at him. Dante had to teleport away quickly after as the Arbok struck at him, clearing the distance between them in a split second. When he appeared behind the Arbok, it sprayed black liquid onto him. The liquid coursed into open orifices and through his skin to start poisoning him.

Dante sent a few more psychic blades at the snake, teleporting afterwards, but the snake anticipated his move and sent another stream of black liquid at him once he materialized. I instantly recognized the combo. It was the Bloodboil combo, and it hit Dante, causing his body to spasm and flinch. In that moment, the Arbok closed the distance and lined up to strike. I prevented it from happening by returning Dante.

**The Trainer forfeited his Gallade! Leader Fulton is gaining momentum! **

I released Azrael next, calling out commands. Azrael submerged before the Arbok could reach him. But before Azrael could reach the snake, it slammed its tail on the ground and shook the earth. Azrael clawed his way above ground soon after, shaking and bleeding. I stomped more commands and he raised a wave of dirt to send crashing into the snake. The Arbok was sent careening back, and when the dust had settled, the snake was limp.

**Leader Fulton's Arbok is down! She has one left!**

The next opponent that showed up on the field looked like a pair of interlocked purplish-black clouds. It was a Weezing, and as it hovered over the ground, it immediately released gas into the vicinity. The gas poured towards me, but a team of Koffing sucked up the noxious fumes before I could be affected by it.

The Weezing rose above a large bulldoze before it sent a blob of sludge at Azrael, catching him in the eyes. Azrael roared in pain and blew a stream of fire at his opponent, who withstood the flames and sprayed black liquid onto Azrael, causing him to writhe in agony. Leader Fulton was using the Venoshock technique with impunity, and it was destroying my team.

Azrael was not down, though. I called for him to use his draconic techniques and he rushed forward swiftly, violently colliding with the Weezing in the air. After that, as he flared his wings to stabilize his descent, he released a beam of pure energy at his adversary. The Weezing was sent flying away by the force behind the hyper beam, but it was still capable of issuing another attack.

The Weezing sent its own hyper beam back at Azrael. When the beam dissipated, a transparent shell flickered around Azrael before falling, and Azrael propelled two coffee-table-sized rocks at the purple cloud. Before they hit, the Weezing was recalled and the crowd roared.

**Leader Fulton's Weezing was forfeited! The challenger wins!**

Leader Fulton motioned me over to the center of the field and I left the trainer area to meet her there. When we were standing in front of one another, she said, "Congratulations, MacAfee. You have won the Fuchsia City Gym Challenge. As such, you are awarded the Soul Badge." She handed me the badge and continued. "Proceed to the Victor's Booth to claim your prize money and the TM, _Toxic_. I'm sure you know what it is. Continue to improve and good luck on your journey to Cinnabar Island."

I thanked Leader Fulton and walked out of the arena amidst the din of spectators. Keith was waiting for me with a smile on his face, though I could tell that something was not quite right. Perhaps it was the way that he smiled. Whatever the reason, my suspicions were vindicated later that night.

Keith congratulated me and offered to take me out for a beer in celebration. I agreed and met him later that night after I gave all my pokemon except for Gilles to the Pokemon Center for treatment. That night, over a glass of beer, Keith said, "Zach, I've learned a lot traveling with you. It's been one of the most valuable experiences in my life. With that said, I need you to know something."

"What is it?" I asked, immediately filled with trepidation.

"It's time for us to go our own ways, Zach," he said with lowered eyes.

"…I see," I said.

"Look, like I said, you have been an amazing teacher and an amazing friend. But it's time to go solo again," he said quickly.

"This doesn't have anything to do with what happened a week ago, does it?" I asked.

"It might have a little to do with that…" Keith answered. "But I did tell you when I teamed up with you that I wanted to see the eastern seaboard. We've done that and are now back in the League. I was planning on going my own way once we got here, anyway."

"…I see. Well, I hope that what happened doesn't hurt our friendship. I hate to admit it, but I did enjoy your company," I said sullenly.

"What happened, happened, dude. I get why you did what you did. I don't hold anything against you, so you and I are good," Keith explained. "Trainers may team up occasionally, but we're solitary creatures."

That last sentence resonated with me. "I've heard something like that before …You're right."

"I know," Keith replied with a wink.

"Well, here's to keeping a winning gym record, and to the best of fortune on our future adventures," I said, raising my glass. Keith raised his as well and tapped it against mine.

"Here here!"

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

I woke up early the next morning to my PokeDex ringing. When I answered it, I was shocked to hear the Champion's voice on the other line. "MacAfee, congratulations on your recent victory. We need to speak."

"Absolutely, sir. When and where?" I answered, instantly wide-awake.

"I assume that you are still in Fuchsia or are still near to the city. Am I correct?" he asked. I confirmed his assumption and he continued, "Then meet me a mile east of the Ranger's post on Route 19 in an hour."

"Yes, sir," I replied, and he ended the call. I quickly gathered my belongings and retrieved my pokemon from the center before leaving. Half an hour later, and atop Azrael's back, I was landing at approximately the location that the Champion and I had agreed upon.

Around ten minutes later, I saw Glemdrin's mighty form descending from the sky. He landed with a _whumph_,and Champion Volker dismounted in one fluid motion. The Champion then walked quickly over to me and shook my hand.

"I'm happy to hear that you are doing well," he said. "And not getting into more trouble."

"Thank you, sir," I replied. "What did the League find out about the Meteor who was captured?" I asked.

"A lot, MacAfee. A lot," he responded. "But that's not the reason I asked you out here. I have information about your Garchomp's lineage. The scanner brought in results that pointed to two particular bloodlines - a Garchomp bloodline and a Dragonite bloodline." He paused and allowed me to take in his words. "My family's researchers in Blackthorn were able to trace your Garchomp's particular Dragonite line back to a singular entity: Buliwyf. Buliwyf is a very old and very powerful Dragonite. And what's more, Buliwyf sired Glemdrin."

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

Lazarus – Electabuzz

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Author's Note: So this chapter was pretty intense. A lot of stuff happened and I was able to start advancing the plot a little more aggressively. Please write your impressions/opinions/support/constructive criticisms/etc. Thanks!


	21. Chapter 21: To the Fiery Isle

Chapter 21

"S-so…" I stuttered. "Glemdrin and Azrael are…"

"Half-brothers," the Champion finished.

"What does this mean?" I asked, nearly paralyzed with astonishment.

"Well, this knowledge will probably not have any immediate impact," the Champion stated matter-of-factly. "I would imagine that you would continue to train the same way as you always have and to continue along the same course on which you have set yourself. This information actually means more to my family. It means that Buliwyf chose to mate with Kira."

"I mean no disrespect to Glemdrin or Buliwyf, but I'm curious to know what makes him so special?" I asked with as much reverence and humility as I could muster. "He's an old dragon which means that he's lived for hundreds of years, but don't many dragons live for a long time?"

"A fair question," the Champion responded, pacifying Glemdrin's rumble of discontent. "It is true that many dragons live for many hundreds of years – especially trained ones – but Buliwyf is particularly sacred to my family in Blackthorn City.

"To give you the story in short, Buliwyf's lineage gives name to my family's clan. His line is the Wataru line, as "Wataru" was the name of the first Dragonite to pair with my ancestors. Since that momentous pairing, which occurred long before the Pokemon League was established, generations upon generations of my family have devoted their lives to the reverence of Wataru's lineage. Over time, we became known as the Wataru Clan.

"Once the First Champion formed the League, the Wyr Watarus, or descendants of Wataru, have gifted the Wataru Clan with their young. And rarely, the oldest surviving Wyr Wataru will grant us with his brood. Buliwyf Wyr Wataru is currently the oldest descendant of Wataru, and until yesterday evening, we believed that Malrin, Buliwyf's partner who passed away over 25 years ago, would be his final mate. Now we know that he chose another, even if she is dead as well."

I took in all of the Champion's words, becoming more and more enchanted by his explanation. Standing silent in front of him, I also noticed that Azrael was affected equally. His large head hung near mine, but was focused intently on the large man in front of us.

"This is important because it is almost unheard of for someone outside of the Wataru clan to partner with a descendant of Wataru, especially the offspring from the oldest," the Champion continued. "This means that you will be given a level of privilege and hospitality not afforded to anyone else by the Wataru clan, should you ever decide to visit. By virtue of having Buliwyf's brood, you now have the opportunity to learn the history behind our clan at the Wataru Temple in Blackthorn. If you ever find yourself there, I recommend you take advantage of this honor."

"Y-yes, Champion. I most definitely will," I stammered. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome, MacAfee. There is much more to my family's history than what I have told you, but if you want to learn, then you will need to make the journey to Blackthorn. Continue to stay out of trouble, if you would kindly; I would hate to deprive you of that honor."

I nodded as Champion Volker turned and jumped up to mount Azrael's half-brother. Glemdrin's dark eyes peered into Azrael's yellow eyes in the meantime, and Azrael remained quiet. Only after the Champion and his golden dragon flew into the sky did Azrael and I react.

"Can you believe that, Azrael?" I marveled. "Your father is the oldest Wataru dragon!"

Azrael had taken on a not-so-subtle air of pride and held himself to match. After I finished speaking, he looked up to the sky and let loose a hair-raising roar, scattering all wild pokemon in a mile's radius.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Route 19 lay to the southwest of Fuchsia, covering around 25 miles of land before hitting the coast. While I traveled along the path, where there were plenty of trainers along the way who were much older than I, I was able to become much better acquainted with Lazarus. The multitude of trainers gave me many opportunities to direct Lazarus in battle, and the distance to the ocean gave me ample time to train him with my team.

That being said, Lazarus was still far behind in level compared to the rest of my team. We spent three days taking it slow to the coast, and by the time we arrived, Lazarus was falling into our routines well. He was particularly talented with electrical punches, bolts, and beams, and his static would cause my hair to perpetually stand on end while he fought. Also, like many other electric-type pokemon, he was very fast; if he was at the same aptitude as the rest of my team, he would have been much faster than everyone.

He was able to easily dodge attacks and he could resist elemental attacks fairly well, but he was weak to physical attacks. Unlike the majority of my team, I also found that Lazarus did not have any particularly dense or reflective areas of his body aside from his hands, which he could use to deflect attacks. Lazarus's only defense, then, was his speed.

I introduced Lazarus to bludgeon tag on Route 19, but I altered the rules slightly so that he would not get hurt. For example, Lazarus was allowed to dodge, instead of take, half of the attacks used against him. That way, he would continue to grow tougher while training his speed as well. I found that Lazarus still struggled despite his speed because my pokemon were trained well and were almost as fast as he was. The hours and hours of training and bludgeon tag had taught my team how to cover short distances very quickly, and they were capable of keeping up with Lazarus and overcoming his speed.

However, I found that Lazarus was just as eager to improve as the rest of my team, which made it easier for me to work on his areas of weakness. By the time I reached the coast, I was directing him in battles with ease and there was a sense of mutual respect between him, myself, and his team.

On the coast sat a small town which I would have mistaken for a suburb of Fuchsia if 25 miles of route had not separated it from Fuchsia. It was small enough that pokemon were not restricted, meaning that I could have walked down its streets with all of my pokemon at my side if I wanted. However, courtesy dictated that I treat the town like any other large city and only travel with one or two pokemon outside of their pokeballs.

I chose to travel with Dante and Lazarus while I traversed the city. I was still trying to build as much rapport with Lazarus as possible, and I always liked to give Dante practice in concentrating amidst densely populated areas. Salty air assaulted my nostrils and Wingull cried in the sky as I looked for the Pokemon Center, foreseeing multiple days of training. I checked in and then made my way to the beach.

The beach was comprised of fine-grain sand, a multitude of sunbathing chairs and umbrellas, and a few lifeguard posts. The weather was clear, the temperature was cool, and a salty breeze swept over the mildly populated seashore. As I trudged along in the resistant sand, I was challenged to a pokemon battle by one of the sunbathing residents who saw Dante and Lazarus beside me.

"Hey there! Looking for a swim?" he asked. "How about a quick battle, first?"

I nodded and released Rufus because I knew that once we left for the ocean, I would rarely get the chance to use Rufus in battle until we reached Cinnabar Island. Meanwhile, Lazarus and Dante stepped back and observed. Rufus appeared before me and it took him a couple seconds to realize that he was facing an opponent; a small, basketball-sized shell with amorphous appendages sticking out of small holes.

I had never seen one of them before, so I was a bit surprised when it started moving the way it did. The appendages launched the little shell into a spin that sent it careening towards Rufus at breakneck speed. Rufus was also caught by surprise and jumped to the right to avoid the rollout, but he was clipped on the side.

The snarl that spread across Rufus's muzzle indicated that the hit was not a light tap. "Dodge! Flamethrower!" I yelled, and as Rufus sprang into action, I continued, "Keep your distance!" Rufus blew an intense stream of fire onto what I would later learn was a Shuckle, but it kept rolling as if unaffected. It zoomed towards Rufus once more, catching him on his hind leg as he tried to dodge.

"Flame charge!" I yelled, trying to switch tactics from ranged to close-quarters. Rufus met the incoming rollout from the Shuckle mid-way and was thrown back with a yelp while his opponent continued to spin violently away. Seeing that the change in approach backfired horribly, I yelled, "Dark Pulse when it gets close!"

Before I could continue to illustrate my command, the Shuckle launched itself for a fourth attack at a speed which was much faster than all previous attempts. Rufus was able to predict what I was going to command, for he acted exactly as if I had continued to say, "Throw off his rollout." As soon as the Shuckle was within five feet of Rufus, Rufus released a concentrated pulse of dark energy, diverting it away from him and interrupting the progressive technique.

The Shuckle seemed to freeze as it stopped, as if the attack caused it to flinch. I took that opportunity to yell, "Hyper beam!" Before the slow creature could react, it was hit with a beam of pure energy, flinging it backwards into a faux-rollout. When it stopped rolling, the amorphous limbs re-emerged from the nigh-impenetrable shell, and it turned itself around to face Rufus.

"Flame-charge!" I yelled, and Rufus sped off to ram his sluggish opponent before sending it flying away with another dark pulse. The Shuckle landed, but this time it transferred its momentum into another rollout. It switched directions as it spun and surged towards Rufus, who let loose another dark pulse at the last second to throw off its attack.

Seeing that the rollout technique was not working, the trainer yelled, "Rock throw!" The Shuckle then lifted three rocks about its own size from the ground and projected them at Rufus, who dodged two of them and caught the last one on the same leg which had sustained a hit from its rollout.

Rufus yelped in pain and started to limp, keeping his weight off of his injured leg. I returned him afterwards, preventing any further harm from coming to him. At that point, I was angry. I sent out Azrael next and said, "Bulldoze and dragon claw," before he sprang into action.

Azrael sent out a single bulldoze, which sent the Shuckle careening back. The shell wobbled a few times before the trainer recalled it.

"Holy cow… You're that champion, aren't you?" the trainer asked, aghast. "That Houndoom, that Gallade, and now that Garchomp…"

"Next pokemon," I said, ignoring him.

"Right," he replied, and sent out a large bird with an absurdly large gullet. Recognizing it as a Pelipper, I recalled Azrael and motioned Lazarus forward.

"Charge bolt," I commanded, while the other trainer gave his own orders. The bird flew up into the air and caught Lazarus in the shoulder with a beam of ice. Lazarus shrugged it off and began to glow bright bluish yellow before releasing a bright yellow beam towards his flying opponent. The electrical beam was devastating to the Pelipper, whose water and flying types were both weak to it, and it immediately fell from the sky with blackened feathers before Lazarus could finish his combo.

The glow that had accumulated over Lazarus's body remained after his attack, and I could feel my hair standing up. The trainer recalled the Pelipper and sent out a Kingler, who clicked its massive pincers menacingly. "Thunderbolt!" I yelled.

My opponent yelled, "Dig!" at the same time, but Lazarus was so much faster than the bulky crab that his slightly empowered bolt of electricity struck it before it could start digging. The crab faltered for a second before twitching uncontrollably with paralysis. Before I could call out more commands, the trainer recalled his Kingler and raised his hands in defeat.

"I give. The rest of my pokemon are no match for that Electabuzz," the trainer said while counting out several paper bills.

"Good battle," I said in good sport. "What was that first pokemon you used? I've never seen one before," I asked.

"Oh, it's a Shuckle!" he said with enthusiasm, which belied his unhappiness for losing the match. "They aren't native to Kanto."

"How did you come by one?" I asked. "It was a pretty good battler, and a peculiar one at that."

"I was just walking down the beach one day and I thought he was a large rock," the trainer responded with a laugh. "When I stepped on it, it moved and, well, one thing led to another and I caught him. And yeah, I've heard that before. He is definitely the most interesting pokemon I've ever trained. He has quite the personality when you get to know him."

"I'm sure," I said. "By the way, where is the closest island in the direction of Cinnabar? Or is there somewhere I could buy a map?" I asked.

"Well, they sell pretty detailed maps at the Pokemon Center in town," he answered, making me groan inwardly for missing the maps when I checked in. "If you fly that Garchomp of yours, you could easily make it to Cinnabar in a day, I think."

"Thanks, but I'm looking to take a wetter route there," I said.

"Oh, okay. Well then make sure you pack lots of fresh water and watch out for sea predators," the trainer told me.

"What kind of predators?" I asked.

"Tentacool and the occasional Tentacruel are pretty much year-round dangers, but since it's getting close to winter, pods of Wailmer and Wailord are passing by during their southern migrations. They and many migratory fish pass pretty close to the islands, so that inevitably draws bigger predators like Sharpedo and even Gyarados," the trainer explained.

"Gyarados, huh?" I mused.

"Ah-hah, I wouldn't think about that, dude," the trainer said, catching my contemplative look. "Those things are the meanest buggers in the ocean. In packs, they're even worse. Best case scenario, you get eaten. Worst case scenario is you die AND you start a rampage. You piss one off, you piss them all off, and we don't need a rampage from a bunch of city-leveling dragon-fish!"

I immediately thought back to the Rhydon incident and agreed. I wasn't too serious about going after one anyway; I already had a strong water type. Just the thought of seeing wild Gyarados, though, was awe-inspiring to me. "Good," the trainer said, "Oh, and if you plan to take shelter from the weather, pokemon, or whatever when you make it to the Seafoam Island Chain, then make sure you pack very warm clothing. Normally, the Seafoam caves are pretty cold. Since it is so close to winter, the temperature will be dropping like a Geodude in a pool."

"Good to know," I said. "Anything else I should know?" I asked.

The trainer thought for a while before saying, "If you haven't thought of it yet, then I would recommend not using a whole lot of electrical attacks while in the water. It won't end well for anyone close by. You know, electricity and water…"

"Yeah, thanks," I said. Then I took half of the trainer's money that I had won and gave it back in thanks.

"Thanks, dude!" he said, smiling. "The name's Tom, by the way. If you need anything else while you're here, then you can call me. Here's my number." He gave me his number and I saved it to my list of contacts on my PokeDex under the name 'Tom Shuckle'.

"My name's Zach. Thanks again, Tom," I said before heading off with a wave. Tom had given me very valuable information, which was worth more than the money, in my opinion. In retrospect, it might have saved my life.

For the rest of the day, I battled other trainers on the beach who all seemed to have water-type-heavy teams, and I practiced riding Ceto in the water. "Surfing" was much more difficult than I imagined. First, the water was very cold, making the entire endeavor more uncomfortable.

Second, even though Ceto was strong enough to carry me on her back while she manipulated the water below her to stay afloat, her scales were sharp and slippery. It was much too easy to fall off and hit the water with a splash, negating the entire point of using the surf technique for travel, which was, of course, to avoid the water.

Even when I just let Ceto swim normally, which was just as fast as using the surf technique, and tried to hold on, I encountered the same problem. Her scales were too slippery and I could easily stab myself on her sharp, venomous barbs. It showed me that I would need to buy or make a saddle of sorts for her.

Incidentally, there were not many people swimming. I saw a couple of people on surf boards being pulled by various water-type pokemon, and only a couple people just swimming. As a result, the water was clear and I was able to experiment with water travel without interruption.

Near the end of the day, I returned to the Pokemon Center, ate dinner, and bought a simple map. According to the map, there were small islands ranging from 15 to 30 miles apart from each other, stretching from the coast to the Seafoam Islands and then to Cinnabar Island. Some of the islands were very small and even consisted of formations of large jagged rocks that could hardly be considered islands.

After reading over the map, I went to bed early with Rufus and Gilles beside me.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

_Screaming pierced the darkness of the room. With the screams came the light from a small candle, which cast a dull and eerie glow about the room. The screams were obviously from Raeda, but I could not see her anywhere in the room, which was bereft of any furniture aside from the chair in its center in which I sat. _

_Amidst the screams, I heard what sounded like a wooden chair slowly rocking back and forth on a wooden floor. I looked around and saw no such chair, but then I felt a drop of liquid hit the top of my shoulder. Hesitantly, I looked up to see a figure hanging from wooden rafters with a rope around his neck, swinging slightly to create the creaking noise. _

_I recoiled at the sight and tried to leave the chair, only to find myself strapped down. I struggled, but I only managed to move the chair, whose excessive weight belied its simple, frail appearance, about a foot backwards. The sound of the chair scraping across the granite floor screeched louder than Raeda's cries, and tears welled in my eyes from the pain it caused in my ears._

_When I stopped moving, the body hanging above me stopped as well. The body fell to the ground in front of me and rolled to the far wall. I was horrified to see the face of the trainer who I had failed to save from the Meteors with a round bloody hole in his forehead. Then, even more horrifically, he started to stand up slowly. He rose in such a way that he was facing the wall in front of me, so that I could not see his face. _

_Once he was standing, he turned around to reveal the figure of Prescott. Prescott was hunched over, and where his eyes should have been were empty black holes with an undiscernible black liquid running from them. I was paralyzed with fear as he slowly moved towards me, dragging his feet on the floor. When he stood hovering above me, his mouth opened. No teeth, tongue, or recognizable oral anatomy could be seen in his maw; only blackness. _

_Prescott's mouth opened wider and wider, stretching past his jaw's limit. He grasped both sides of my face with twisted, gnarled fingers and brought my face up to his. The black holes of his eyes bore into mine, and I could see the faint glow of something far in their depths. _

_The smell was abhorrent and the assault on all of my senses caused me to struggle once more, but to no avail. The sound of a low wind leaving a cave came from Prescott's maw, nearly silent at first but growing in volume until it overtook Raeda's screams. Prescott's grip tightened and I tried to scream, but found that I was gagged. The black abysses still stared into my eyes._

_In that moment, my emotional state shifted from fear to frustration at not being able to act, and then to anger, and I slammed my forehead into Prescott's nose, jarring him from me and releasing me from his grip. I then found that the bindings that held me to the chair were no longer restraining me. I stood up quickly and glared into Prescott's depthless eyes, noting that the glow was extinguished. _

_Prescott's mouth elongated once more and started making the hollow howling noise. As he did so, I turned, grabbed the chair, and whipped it around. The howling stopped, replaced by the sound of a crash as the chair connected with his upper body and shattered, _jarring me awake.

I was sweating profusely and I looked around the room. Once again, Rufus was sound asleep with no indication that he sensed something out of the ordinary. Gilles, who had stirred at my awakening, drifted in front of me, his natural grin replaced by an unsettlingly stolid expression. "That Banette better show itself soon so you guys can kill it again. These dreams get old quickly," I said with sigh.

Gilles nodded and I sank back down into my pillow.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The next day I decided to do some shopping before I made my way to the beach. I kept only Dante with me because he was the only one of my pokemon allowed to enter certain stores due to his non-bulky, humanoid appearance. The first store I visited was a surfer business, but I did not find anything of use. I then visited a sporting goods store and found exactly what I needed.

It was similar to a raft. It was a polyethylene flatbed around four feet wide and ten feet long. The front of the raft was angled into a point that would make it more dynamic in the water, and the edges were raised to keep water out of the bed. There were two waterproof storage compartments inside the front wedge, and in the back, there was a rope tied to a ring at the tip of the bow.

The raft would be perfect. I would tie the rope around Ceto or Azrael and they would pull me. I decided to leave and come back for the raft later after I finished shopping for supplies. I walked out the door of the building and took in a deep breath of the salty air. _J'KUN!_

I heard Dante yell into my mind at the same time that he stepped in front of me with an extended blade raised. I heard the _PING!_ of something hit his metal weapon, and then the sharp echo of a rifle shot. Immediately, everyone in the vicinity scattered and screamed for cover. After two seconds, Dante disappeared from in front of me.

Half a minute later, he reappeared in front of me, but he was not alone. The body of a woman lay before him with a large, wicked gash stretching from the left side of her neck to her right ribcage. She was plainly dressed with no significant characteristics about her. _An empty one,_ Dante said with disgust.

"A Meteor!?" I exclaimed, shocked and exasperated. "Are there any more?" I asked

_I don't know, J'Kun. I cannot sense any other mindless ones. But there are many Yeshka around. _

"Thank you, Dante," I sighed. "How did you know?"

_I felt it about to happen. It was a flash in my mind._

"Amazing…" I said. "I could have just died…"

_But you did not, J'Kun._

"True enough. But right now, it's not the Meteors I'm afraid of killing me," I said with trepidation. As if on cue, sirens pierced the silence and police cars came streaming down the street. "You're going to have to go back into your pokeball for a while," I said, and Dante nodded.

Two hours later, I found myself in an interrogation room. The police had found where the Meteor was camped out – on a rooftop – and had retrieved a rifle. In the meantime, I was held for questioning. Champion Volker had arrived and was sitting in the chair across from me, and I explained what happened. The Champion nodded and said, "Well, you've managed to make yourself some enemies, MacAfee. This is a pretty clear-cut case. You're lucky that your Gallade was there to protect you, because you were almost assassinated."

Something in the Champion's tone told me that these were the repercussions for my actions. The Champion stood up. "The way I see it, you didn't do anything wrong here, so you are free to go. Keep your nose clean." With that, he motioned me out of the room. I left, thanked him, and returned to my day, albeit a bit more shaken up and paranoid.

I bought supplies, keeping Dante out with me at all times, and I was still checking over my shoulder constantly. It was after noon when I finally returned to the beach with my new raft in tow. After a few hours of testing the raft, I felt that I had enough experience to depart, but I chose not to leave immediately. There was one more thing I needed to take care of.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Raeda's screams echoed in my short-term memory as I awoke, and the baritone laughing reverberated from the woods around me. The damned ghost finally showed up, and it only took a week. I probably could have made it to Cinnabar in that time, but I was not interested in dealing with a malicious ghost at such a vulnerable time as traveling overseas.

Gilles and Rufus were all over the Banette instantly, for we had been expecting it. The Banette's laughter turned to shrieks as Gilles and Rufus tore it to pieces. To finish the ghost, Gilles threw its head to Azrael, whose teeth warped into a vicious, dark _crunch_ and destroyed the remains.

With a sigh of relief, I fell back into my sleeping bag and slept soundly. In the morning, Dante teleported me back to the town and I shopped for rations before heading to the beach. I packed the raft so that the only things I carried were my bow, ammo, knife, pokeballs, and a water bottle. I then lashed the boat to Ceto's back.

With one last look while grounded in the sand, I pushed the raft into the water and hopped aboard. The raft was large enough to carry me and Rufus or Dante at the same time, but for the sake of keeping the weight down for Ceto, I kept the raft clear. Instead, I released Gilles, who floated along above us as Ceto cleared the large crashing waves to set us on tranquil water.

With no more resistance, we set our course to the southwest. Ceto pulled me along steadily at an easy pace, and after two hours, when the mainland was far in the distance behind us, I released Azrael into the water beside the raft. I then released Dante beside me and said, "Now, like we practiced."

Dante nodded and Azrael huffed, sending water spraying over the raft. Dante then jumped on top of Azrael and they both disappeared. Shortly after, Dante reappeared behind me on the raft, and I looked up to see Azrael catching the wind high above me. Since Azrael was incapable of taking flight from the water, Dante needed to teleport him high enough that he could have time to stabilize in the air.

Azrael then sped off. Half an hour later, Azrael flew back into sight from slightly to the right of the front of Ceto, and Ceto changed her course to head towards the direction from which Azrael was returning. I nodded to Dante, recalled him, and then recalled Azrael once he grew close enough.

From there, it was smooth sailing. Every two hours, I repeated the process of releasing Azrael to maintain our bearings. In that way, we never wandered very far off course. Ceto made a valiant effort to keep her pace, but by late afternoon, I could feel that she was struggling. We had slowed considerably, and instead of feeling a smooth pull, I could feel her tugging.

With Ceto's health in mind, I stopped her, thanked her, and replaced her with Azrael. Azrael could not swim as fast as Ceto, but he could pull me just fine. With Ceto resting in her ball, Azrael pulled me the rest of the way to the first small island, which was another four hours away. It was nearing sunset at that time.

When we arrived on the island's shores, I pulled the raft onto the beach and tied it to a tree. Then I released my whole team. "Great job Ceto and Azrael for getting us here. You two can take a break. The rest of you, it's time for a short practice while I hunt for dinner. Dante, work on teleports. Gilles and Rufus, you two are on batting practice. Concentrate on letting the ball get as close to you as possible so that you can work on your reflexes. Lazarus, you're with me. We're fishing!"

With my orders given, Lazarus and I made our way to a random side of the island, which was about half of a square mile in size, and scoped out some schools of fish. Many were very small colorful fish, but there were also some schools of Goldeen, which looked fat and appetizing. I looked over to Lazarus and said, "Use thunderbolt until I tell you to stop."

Lazarus nodded and lifted his hand. _Crack! _The bolt of electricity arched from his open palm to the surface of the water directly above a group of Goldeen. I saw all of them spasm and then float to the surface. A dozen palm-sized colorful fish also floated to the surface while every other fish in the vicinity scattered. _Crack!_ Another bolt hit the same spot and the Goldeen seized once more. I held up my hand and watched the fat fish for any movement.

The water around the floating fish was becoming discolored with shades of red. "Great job, Lazarus! That's an easy meal!" I waded out to fetch the fish, which required multiple trips. In the end, I came back with six Goldeen and 14 smaller fish. I threw two of the football-sized Goldeen to Azrael, who snapped them up like truffles, one to Rufus, one to Lazarus, and kept one for myself. I gave all of the smaller fish to Ceto.

While I was doling out portions, I noticed that there were more figures darting around underwater where Lazarus and I had fished. When I took a closer look, I saw that the figures were different fish with red and blue colorations. They were swimming around in the bloody water looking for carrion, and I was able to identify them as Carvanha.

This was both good and bad news. It was good news because now there were conveniently more fish to hunt, and large ones at that; they were the size of soccer balls. The bad news was that I knew that the evolutions of Carvanha are Sharpedo. It was nerve-wracking to know that Sharpedo were roaming those waters, and that they were probably not far behind the Carvanha.

"Lazarus, we have more!" I called, and threw one of the small fish into the water closer to the shore. The Carvanha entered a frenzy and swarmed the small fish while Lazarus readied an attack. _Crack! Crack! Crack!_ Lazarus issued three separate thunderbolts before I was satisfied that the carnivorous fish were dead. I then retrieved them, bringing back five large fish.

Practice was waylaid before it even started for dinner. Rufus made a fire so that I could cook a Goldeen and a Carvanha for myself. I then gave half of the cooked Carvanha to Dante and the rest of the Carvanha to Azrael.

After we finished eating, practice began anew, and Lazarus worked on stamina. Luckily for us, no Sharpedo arrived, for I knew that Azrael would have wanted to use them for practice. The night was calm and I slept soundly knowing that my team and I were happy and well.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

We left early the next morning. Ceto pulled us away from the island and I watched it disappear on the horizon as the sun rose above its silhouette. The ocean was calm once again, though on the journey between the first and second island, I encountered some of the dangers that Route 19 has to offer.

As we were traveling, Ceto suddenly stopped. She then backed up and hit the raft, jarring me. I called out for Gilles, who made himself known with a cackle. "Gilles! Help her!" I yelled.

I looked for Ceto's assailant and saw a transparent blue jellyfish reaching out for Ceto with long tendrils. "Gilles, tear it apart with shadow claws!" I ordered, and he dove into the water. I saw a dark shadow underwater striking at the Tentacool, and moments later, Gilles returned to the surface of the water with a giggle, his prey floating lifelessly.

"Great. It looks like we will be on our toes from here on out," I said. I released Azrael and told him to keep an eye out for trouble. He swam next to us from then on with Gilles above him. Not ten minutes later, I noticed a commotion where Azrael was swimming. He had engaged with another Tentacool and was lashing out at it with dragon claws. He returned to the surface soon after and continued to swim as if nothing had happened.

"Great job, Azrael," I said, and he responded with a huff. Three more similar incidents passed before we encountered a Tentacruel. The creature's body was larger than my raft. Its many tentacles were over ten feet long and it used them drag Azrael down under the water without warning. I saw Azrael sink suddenly out of the corner of my eye and I peered over the edge of the raft to see large, bulbous red crystals in a thick transparent membrane behind a myriad of dense tentacles, which were clutching Azrael.

"Gilles, get down there and use Dark Pulse!" I yelled. Gilles dove into the water, and when he was close enough to the Tentacruel's face, he sent a pulse which knocked it back slightly and rocked the raft. Unfortunately, the pulse also hit Azrael. The Tentacruel did not let go despite the pulse and Azrael's thrashing. Another pulse rocked the water underneath us, causing the raft to lurch upwards, and I yelled, "Ceto, ice beam!"

Ceto sent an icy shard into one of the bulbous crystals, and Gilles started slashing at the tentacles holding Azrael under the water. While the tentacles were being severed, a sizzling beam of energy shot from beneath the water. Azrael then emerged on the surface of the water with several severed tentacles latched onto his body. Azrael's movements were twitchy and strained, and I recognized that as a sign of a venom infection.

I immediately returned him, watching the tentacles floating, and tried to get a good look at the battle. The water was calm and Gilles was floating above the water. The Tentacruel was nowhere in sight. "Did it run?" I asked, and Gilles nodded. "Great. Good job anyway," I said. I then rooted around in my storage container for an antidote and administered it to Azrael's pokeball.

We continued on after I released Azrael. Luckily, the next island was only 22 miles away as opposed to 30 miles. It was a bigger island than the first and it hosted more wildlife. There were many more fish and therefore plenty of food for us all. Since we reached the island in the afternoon, we had most of the day to train and enjoy the peaceful ambience of melodic waves, fresh air, and beautiful foliage.

We left early in the morning once again, noting that the next island was a jagged rock formation and was 20 miles away. Throughout the day, we encountered more Tentacool and even another Tentacruel, but we were able to drive it away like the previous one.

Midway through the journey from the second island to the third, I noticed the sky darkening and my heart sank. I surmised that a storm was building, and I made a decision to turn around and head back to the island we had started from. Knowing that the next island consisted of rocky precipices allowed me to decide that the second island was much safer.

So we turned around and headed back. The storm caught up with us just as we arrived at the island, pouring rain down upon us as I brought the raft in. The wind also picked up and made it very difficult for me to secure the raft. When I successfully pinned it down in the middle of the island, Azrael dug a hole underneath it big enough for me to crawl next to him. I then recalled all of my pokemon except for Azrael and snuggled up for the night.

The night was loud and wet. I thought I could hear the sounds of creatures outside of our little burrow, but I never ventured out to affirm that theory. The winds threatened to blow away the raft, but Azrael was able to keep it pinned down by lying on the ropes that were not attached to the tree. In the morning, we left once more after fishing and eating a quick meal.

We did not encounter another Tentacruel that day, but we had more than our fair share of encounters with Tentacool. Once we reached the large rocks of the third island, I spent an hour finding a safe area to approach. When I did, I needed to climb up a jagged incline to an area that was flat with the raft on my back. We made camp and I ate rations for dinner.

Since the rocky precipice I found myself on was not very big, training was cancelled for the day, but even then, we had multiple training opportunities throughout the night. Before we went to bed, we witnessed a pod of Wailmer passing by. They made themselves known with spouts of water and slaps from their tails.

After that, we were assaulted regularly by pokemon such as Seel, Sealeo, and Slowbro who tried to take refuge on our rock but found it occupied. Instead of finding a different rock, most of them attacked us to drive us away. Fortunately for me, I had a gigantic dragon, a ghost, and a lightning rod to drive them away instead. I did not get much sleep that night due to the amount of pokemon that challenged us, and neither did my pokemon, but that did not stop us from setting course early the next morning for the next island.

The next island was only 15 miles away, but it was another jagged rock formation, and the island beyond that was another 25 miles. With our early start, we were able to bypass the rocky island and arrive at the fifth island by nightfall while dealing with Tentacool and Tentacruel. The journey ate into my supply of antidotes and potions. That night, I deduced from the map that we were over three-quarters of the way to the Seafoam Islands. Knowing that, we woke early to fish for a meal and then left with the intention of making it to the Seafoam Island chain before the end of the night.

We had come to expect the multitude of Tentacool that plagued us on the way, so there was little that differentiated that day from the others. That is, aside from our near-run-in with wild Gyarados.

It happened when we were within visual range of the first large island of the Seafoam chain. It was still a hazy silhouette on the horizon, but we knew that we were close. After a particularly intense battle with a Tentacruel, I noticed the large tails of Wailmer slapping down onto the water a few hundred yards away.

I had Azrael, who was pulling the raft at the time, alter our course slightly to take us a little closer to the friendly giants. When we were about 150 yards from the pod, one of the Wailmer spun sideways, and I saw a very large blue serpentine figure wrapped mostly around the whale. Its enormous jaws were latched onto the Wailmer's side and it was thrashing its head violently from side to side, sending blood and chunks of blubber flying everywhere.

Before I knew it, more Wailmer were being assaulted from underneath, some by more than one of the great draconic serpents. Some of the Gyarados rose out of the water with terrifying roars that sent shivers down my spine and blasted the fleeing whales with beams of energy.

It was a slaughter. They frenzied among the carcasses of the Wailmer while I quietly, yet fervently, beckoned Azrael to pick up the pace towards the island. We did not pass unnoticed, however. A couple of the behemoths caught sight of us speeding away and let loose territorial roars. I looked back to see two gargantuan heads above the water moving towards us. "Azrael, move it!" I yelled, and he started swimming as fast as he could. I also released Ceto and exclaimed, "Help Azrael pull!"

Ceto swam between the boat and Azrael, and gathered some of the rope. She pulled with Azrael, and we managed to keep enough distance between us and the large pokemon all the way to the Island that we were safe from their attacks. I was, however, legitimately frightened for us. When we landed, I jumped off of the raft and ordered Azrael to keep dragging it into the nearest cave while I ran beside him and returned Ceto.

I was hit by the cold as soon as I ran about 100 feet in to the cave. The temperature must have dropped ten degrees, and it kept dropping as we ran further inside to escape the threat of the Gyarados. By the time we stopped, I was shivering.

I released Rufus and Lazarus at that point, the former for his heat and the latter for his light. Lazarus lit the area as if he was a giant glow stick, and Rufus immediately started heating up. The heat warmed me up slightly, but I was still uncomfortably cold. I dug through my belongings in my raft until I found fresh pants, socks, and a heavy coat, which I had packed due to Tom's advice.

After I had very quickly changed clothing, I was much more comfortable and I could focus on my surroundings. We were in a cavern with an abundance of stalagmites and stalactites, and ice clung to the walls and the ground. After the small amount of time I had spent near the entrance of the cave, it was not difficult for me to imagine why many of the legends about the Seafoam Caves existed.

The Seafoam Caves are ice-cold year round despite the hot temperatures of the summer. I do not think scientists have been able to explain how the caves remain cold all the time, which only adds to the mystery. It has been said that no one has fully explored the caves, for it becomes much too cold in its lower levels for most people to survive for prolonged periods of time.

The most popular legend behind the Seafoam Caves is that Articuno, the great ice raptor, lays dormant in the lowest level of the caves, and its sheer presence keeps the caves devoid of heat. It has been said that if Articuno ever awoke and left the cave, the world would be plunged into an ice age.

If there is such a magnificent and powerful creature, I believed that it would probably be best to leave it alone, even if I was actually capable of reaching it. I was in the highest level of the cave system and I was already having difficulty with the temperature, so I could only imagine how cold it must be in the lower levels, and I had no desire to explore its depths.

I stayed at the top level for the rest of the night as I waited for the Gyarados pack to move on. During that time, I ate dry rations and huddled up next to Rufus for warmth. With the help of Lazarus's glow, I saw many different wild pokemon moving through the icy cavern including Piplup, Prinplup, Seel, Dewgong, and Swinub. Perhaps they were not as territorial in the highest levels because we were rarely challenged by wild pokemon. They mostly just avoided Rufus's heat.

I knew that further down in the caves I would have the chance to find Jynx, Sneasel, Froslass, and even Lapras, but the prospects did not outweigh the danger, lack of interest, and physical discomfort that I felt. Also, I did not feel comfortable abandoning my raft so that I could spelunk. So, I only mused about the fascinating creatures that dwell in the Seafoam cave in the comfort of Rufus's warmth.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The next day I emerged from the icy cave and greeted the cool air with gratitude, for it was much warmer than in the cave. I changed back into my travel clothes, lashed the raft to Ceto, and headed out. From there, we encountered the normal hordes of Tentacool that I had come to expect while we circled around the islands. At the end of the day we made camp on a peaceful little island ten miles west of the Seafoam Islands and continued to train. From there, with few problems along the way aside from the regular hazards, it took us two more days to reach Cinnabar Island.

The most noticeable characteristic of Cinnabar Island is Mount Kalama, the enormous volcano that looms over the entire island. Like the Seafoam Islands, Mount Kalama was also the source of many legends, chief among them being that of the great flaming raptor, Moltres. Supposedly, the great bird slumbers in the magma streams that feed the volcano, and that its snoring causes the volcano to erupt. The legends say that if Moltres ever leaves the volcano, the world will be cursed with long droughts and extremely high temperatures.

Mount Kalama was the first thing that could be seen in the distance while on approach to Cinnabar Island. It perpetually smokes from the top and it erupts frequently. One reason that the island has been able to survive its regular eruptions is because of the gym. The fire pokemon of Leader Shiro Zaiden have kept lava, pyroclastic flows, and other hazards of the volcano at bay, and his predecessors have done the same for as long as Cinnabar Island has been populated.

As we grew closer to the island, I noticed that the volcano was surrounded by smaller mountain tops and fairly dense forests. On the map, Cinnabar Island was very large – about 750 square miles – and it resembled the shape of a peanut shell. Cinnabar City resides on the western side of the island, and was a most welcome sight to behold after over a week of traveling on the ocean. As we grew nearer, individual Wingull swooped down towards us out of curiosity and filled the air with their squawking.

I ignored the birds, and once we arrived at the shore, I stumbled out of my raft and released Ceto from the makeshift harness. She relaxed in the water while I pulled the raft onto the sand. I also released Rufus, who sat down nearby. Sometime during the next half-hour in which I was just relaxing in the sand, I was approached by a cameraman and a reporter. On the reporter's shoulder sat a white and blue Wingull.

"Hello, sir!" the reporter called enthusiastically. When he approached me, he held out a hand and said, "Jack Jones from the Cinnabar LeagueWatch."

I shook his hand and he looked at a flat screen in his hand. "So, Zachariah MacAfee?" he said, looking from the pad to me.

I nodded and asked, "How did you know?"

"You beat the Fuchsia gym twenty days ago, and you told the reporter there that you would be taking the island route. It generally takes a trainer about a week to make the journey and you were last seen leaving the beach on Route 21 a little over a week ago. We were expecting you!" Jack said with a big smile.

"Ah," I said stoically.

"We were wondering if you could tell our viewers if you will be challenging Leader Zaiden any time soon?" he asked.

I sighed and said, "I just got here, so I'm going to take a couple days to get reoriented. I don't plan to challenge the gym until I explore a bit of the island."

"That's great! After all, Cinnabar Island is a beautiful place to sightsee. How long are you planning to spend sightseeing?" Jack asked.

"I don't know… A couple days maybe," I responded uncomfortably.

"Oh! So you will be challenging the gym in a few days, then?" Jack asked excitedly.

"No. After I rest up, I will be training for a few weeks before I issue my challenge," I said.

"That's smart! One could expect nothing less from this year's JIC Champion! Are there any particular sights you want to see on the island?"

"I haven't really looked into what the island has to offer, yet," I responded impatiently.

"Well, aside from the many high-quality seafood restaurants, there is the Cinnabar Museum, the famous Cinnabar Cinnabuns bakery, and, though it is over a month away, the Cinnabar Relay. Are you planning on sticking around for the race?" Jack rattled off.

"Th-thanks," I stammered, taken aback by the reporter's tenacity. "Well, since I don't know much about the Cinnabar Relay, I will need to investigate what it is at the Pokemon Center," I said, placing emphasis on _at the Pokemon Center_.

"Well, you should let us know when you decide so that your fans have something extra to look forward to. Until then, we look forward to your challenge!" Jack said. Then he turned to the camera and concluded the interview.

"Fans?" I asked.

"Of course!" Jack responded. "You didn't think that becoming the JIC Champion _and _keeping an unbroken gym record up to the seventh badge would go unnoticed, did you?"

"…Maybe…" I responded, lowering my eyes in embarrassment.

Jack laughed and said, "Well, reality check; people know who you are." He then bid me farewell and trudged off with his cameraman.

I was left standing in the sand, annoyed. I dragged my raft to the Pokemon Center and checked in. Then, carrying the raft on my back, I visited a sporting goods store from the same company I had bought the raft from. They offered storage for the raft and I paid the fees without hesitation. Then I headed back to the Pokemon Center to look up information on the Cinnabar Relay.

Later that night, I found rules for the Cinnabar Relay on a tourist website. The race takes place on the first Saturday of the new year, and the contestants race each other around the entirety of Cinnabar Island. During the race, trainers must stop at different locations to pick up a metal baton, and then transport that baton to the next location. The trainers may only interact with one baton at each pickup site, but they may set reasonable geographical traps or hazards for other trainers.

Pokemon may also attack one another after three minutes have passed from the onset of the race. However, trainers may not directly target other trainers. Pokemon can attack each other, but if one attacks a trainer, it is disqualified. However, accidents happen and trainers do occasionally get hurt, so it is generally up to the mounted officials' discretion to judge an injury as accidental as opposed to intentional.

The racers must make three laps around the island by the end of the Relay, and they may not travel more than 100 yards inland. There are two pickup locations during each lap around the island, and their locations are broadcasted with beach-side flares. The race also includes trainers of all levels of experience, from one-badge trainers to post-league trainers.

After reading the rules, I spent the rest of the night planning for the near future.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The Cinnabar City Gym was intimidating. When I visited the gym to watch a gym trainer battle, I was astounded by the conditions in which trainers were forced to battle. The gym was only one floor above ground, but it sank deep into the earth. Inside the gym on the ground level was a large ring circling the top of the arena where spectators could sit and peer down. The seating ring was separated from the arena by a thick glass window, and from the seating, I saw that the arena was almost entirely enclosed.

Vents lined the ceiling and red rock walls bordered the dirt field, which only had a small pool of steaming water on one side. From the seating, I could perceive heat waves in the arena and dark blotches of sweat-stained clothing on the two challengers. Lastly, as I observed the matches, I could see both of the trainers wracked with fits of coughing throughout their fights.

After my visit to the gym, I left for the smoky forests of Cinnabar Island. I found that the temperature, though cool at the base of the mountain, steadily increases as one moves further into Cinnabar's mountain range. The sheer amount of lush foliage and wildlife confused me at first, given that there was a very active volcano at the center of the island. But I discovered the reason why the forests had not been reduced to ash once I reached the peak of a shorter nearby mountain.

I could see enormous earthen walls trailing around the side of Mount Kalama on the section facing the city. There were two walls which met about 100 feet from the summit and curved to direct the flow of lava around to the other side of the volcano. There were also several other walls staggered further down the mountainside in case the lava flowed over or destroyed the first wall. However, even seeing the system of lava redirection could not answer the question of how the gym defended against pyroclastic flows, so I made a mental note to inquire about that at the gym.

Scientific curiosity was not the reason I was traversing the wooded peaks, though. I had decided to spend roughly a month training in the island's interior before challenging the gym. I had decided to do so for a few reasons. The first was because I wanted more than a couple weeks of practice to ready my team for the next gym. The second was so that I could participate in the Cinnabar Relay shortly afterwards. That way, I could continue on my journey with as little delay as possible. The last and newfound reason was that I wanted to train my body to at least tolerate the conditions in which I would be battling.

As it turned out, the wildlife offered a very respectable challenge for us. After all, they had to be hardened and tough to survive in the harsh environment of the Smoky Mountains. Many different species of pokemon inhabited the forests, including fire-types. The fire-types that we uncommonly encountered in the lower regions of the mountains were Vulpix, Tepig, Emboar, Chimchar, and Monferno. We spent the majority of our time in the lower regions of the mountain and near the coast on the far side of the island, away from Cinnabar City.

Training was difficult for several reasons. The first was the reason why the mountain range was called the Smoky Mountains; the air was smoky and heavy in most areas, making it uncomfortable to breathe. I even returned to town so that I could buy a gas mask, though I only used it when I traveled to higher elevations. The Mountain Ash and Blackwood trees had also developed strong, flame-retardant wood which was difficult to burn. Lastly, we needed to return to town for water regularly since fresh water was difficult to find.

The training was good for my pokemon, I thought. The harsh conditions helped to toughen them up and improve their abilities while under uncomfortable conditions. The month we spent in the Smoky Mountains was miserable, but we all came out from it tougher, stronger, and more confident in ourselves. And, by remaining vigilant and aware of our surroundings, we avoided potentially dangerous situations with the native pokemon populations and the environment, such as poisonous water, extreme hotspots, and unstable terrain.

Aside from drilling, we made occasional trips to the areas of higher elevation and closer to the peak of the volcano. In climbing the smoke-filled mountains, we put our stamina and strength to the test, and we found rarer fire-types in the process. I ended up catching a Charmeleon, a Magmar, and five Magcargo while training in the peaks surrounding Mount Kalama.

The Charmeleon and the Magmar attacked us out of territorial aggression, and I decided that catching them was more preferable than killing them. I actually sought out Magcargo to catch simply because they are a rare delicacy in many fine dining institutions. Prepared Magcargo are only found in more expensive restaurants because it takes a very skilled chef with the proper facility to prepare them. The chef must remove the superheated slime which covers the slugs' bodies without damaging the soft flesh beneath or letting the slime seep into the flesh. The prepared dish in the end is supposedly very chewy and tasty.

My foray into the Smoky Mountains was both lucrative and bolstering to my team's resolve. My team had become more capable under strenuous conditions, and I had groomed my body – in the short term, anyway – to perform well amidst sweltering heat and murky air. A few of them had also practiced more impressive combos for use in battle. When we returned to the city a week before New Year and a day before the Winter Solstice, I immediately signed up for a gym challenge. However, due to the holidays, I had to wait until the day after the Winter Solstice for my first battle with the gym trainer.

On the day of the Winter Solstice, I received a call from my parents and a message from Sheila, Keith, and Aoro wishing me happy holidays. While many people were all having a cozy, snowy Winter Solstice, I was having a cool, snowless island holiday. Since it was the Winter Solstice, and knowing that my gym battle was the next day, I chose to celebrate the holiday, but not to have too much fun.

I went to a local outdoor bar and had a couple drinks amidst joyous islanders, and I stopped drinking as soon as I felt the slightest effect. I remember watching holiday parades on a television screen inside of a gazebo after one too many people recognized me and would not leave me alone. At one point in the evening, cheering rang out in the vicinity, and all of the television channels were switched to a national news network.

On the screen was Champion Volker. He was standing beside a man with a thin scar across his cheek and short black hair, as well as a reporter. The reporter had asked Volker a question and he was saying, "-eteors have been dealt a devastating blow. Last week, the League launched a large-scale operation against key Meteor bases using information gathered from psychic memory extraction. Today, on the Winter Solstice, the League is pleased to announce that the Meteors have been effectively routed. All of their known major militant installations have been overrun, their leaders captured and their memories extracted for any more information about other unknown bases. All that remains are the small cells that will not be able to operate effectively without organized leadership."

"So Kanto can rest easy knowing that the Meteors are no longer a threat?" the reporter asked excitedly.

"There will always be the threat of death throes from the remaining cells," the Champion explained. "The militant terrorist organization was far reaching, and though we routed all major bases of operations, smaller groups of Meteors may lash out in a final effort to keep the organization alive. But the League can assure you that we will be watching vigilantly for any signs of such activities."

"This is a great holiday season, indeed, and the people of Kanto thank you for your service," the reporter said, graciously. "Now I understand that you, Master Chief Ace Officer Virgil McCormick," he asked, looking at the scarred man, "are the most distinguished soldier who participated in the operation."

"The Master Chief's platoon was responsible for the assault on four separate installations, including the principal base of operations," Champion Volker answered for him. "His platoon was responsible for bringing in Jared Mason, the highest ranking Meteor."

"How did you feel, Mr. McCormick, knowing that your platoon was responsible for such an important mission?" asked the reporter.

"Well, I was definitely honored to be given that responsibility. My team was, as well," Virgil responded in a deep voice. "When we were given the mission dossier that explained who we would be extracting, my platoon cheered. It was a great honor for us all, and it was probably the proudest moment in many of our lives in serving this country."

"I think I can speak for all of Kanto when I say that your service is greatly appreciated and that you are considered a hero," the reporter responded in praise.

At that point, I heard someone in the bar yell, "Damn right, he's a hero!"

"Is there anything you would like to say to the people of Kanto?" the reporter asked.

"Actually, there is," Virgil replied, and I noticed Champion Volker shuffle nervously. "You can look forward to seeing me at the next Indigo Conference." Champion Volker then looked slightly relaxed.

"That is wonderful news!" the reporter exclaimed. "You will have quite the crowd, I'm sure."

With that, the reporter switched to the news anchor, who said, "That was Master Chief Ace Officer Virgil McCormick. He earned his eighth league badge in 2065 with a gym record of 8-0. After that, he conquered the Johto and Sinnoh circuits and then participated in the 2067 Indigo Conference, where he placed fourth. After that, Mr. McCormick joined the Rangers and then the Ace Trainers. Folks, what a great…"

The anchor's voice trailed off as I stopped listening. The news that the Meteors were finally defeated filled me with so much happiness that I left the bar and released my pokemon outside of city limits and spent the rest of the night with my team. Then, I returned to the Pokemon Center and went to bed.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The waiting room was incredibly hot. I was sweating just waiting for my match. Rufus accompanied me and looked as if he was enjoying the heat. Aside from me, there were only three other participants, and they looked to be much more uncomfortable than I.

When I was called to the arena, I looked up to the glass behind which sat the spectators, and saw the stands nearly full. Somehow, word had reached the news that I was finally challenging the gym, and people had decided to come out to watch. I also believed that the good feelings that came with the holidays and the news of the Meteors' fall gave everyone a reason to celebrate and go out to watch a pokemon match in person.

The heat inside of the arena was absolutely oppressive. The smoke in the air caused my eyes and throat to itch, but I held back the urge to cough. My stats reached the screens inside of the seating area as I met with a tall man wearing a black tank-top, cargo shorts, and sandals. His skin was tanned and dirty, and his voice sounded gravelly when he said, "Welcome to the Cinnabar City Gym. My name is Caleb Bradford. This gym is a bit different than the others, if you hadn't already guessed, in that you will be fighting under less-than-optimal conditions. The rules are simple for your first fight; three on three, one switch-out, and if you pass out, you forfeit. Link your team of three."

I obeyed and linked Ceto, Azrael, and Lazarus. The League's standard level for the seventh badge is 45-50. Lazarus was the weakest member of my team by level, at 47, and everyone else was above 55. So, I felt that my team was more than ready. After that, I was told to take my position.

I led with Lazarus while Caleb led with a Charmeleon. I immediately ordered Lazarus to form a light screen while the fire lizard shot a line of fire at him. The fire hit Lazarus through the screen, but dealt only minor damage to him. After that, I yelled, "Charge-Bolt!" while the Charmeleon launched some fairly large rocks at him.

The beam impacted the Charmeleon, and Lazarus dodged all of the rocks before letting loose an empowered thunderbolt. The arc of lighting struck the lizard, but it continued to throw rocks. "Again!" I yelled. Lazarus loosed another electrical beam, and his fur started to glow even more brilliantly than before, but the Charmeleon was recalled before he could finish with a thunderbolt.

The next pokemon that was released was a Flareon. The flaming fox immediately wreathed itself in fire and shot towards Lazarus, who was fast enough to hit it with a powerful thunderbolt. Lazarus was hit in the side soon after, flames crashing over him. The Flareon faltered as well, sustaining recoil damage. In that short amount of time, Lazarus shot another charge beam at his opponent, and his body glowed even brighter. By this time, the temperature in the room had risen, and sweat was sticking to my clothes.

The Flareon leapt at Lazarus with an open mouth full of fire, and sank its fangs into Lazarus's thigh. In response, Lazarus's fists crackled with lighting and he slammed them down onto the fox's head. The Flareon fell to the ground and was returned. Lazarus, I noticed, was heaving, and the fur on his thigh was alight. I recalled him before the fire could spread or the gym trainer could send another pokemon at him, and then sent out Ceto.

Ceto's opponent was revealed to be a large badger-like pokemon. Upon seeing Ceto, it stood up on its hind legs to a height of six feet, and flames erupted from its shoulders and back. I recognized it as a Typhlosion, a vicious fire-type capable of devastating physical and ranged attacks.

I immediately yelled, "Focus-Beam!" and Ceto focused inward. In that time, the Typhlosion shook, and a dense smokescreen formed around him and the vicinity. Ceto then released a bubbling beam of water into the smoke, and an angry cry was heard. "When you see him, use hydro pump," I commanded, and Ceto waited.

A few seconds later, a plume of fiery liquid arched out of the smoke and landed all around Ceto, hitting her and causing her wet scales to steam. Before the Typhlosion released another lava plume, I yelled, "Disperse that cloud!" and Ceto sent a violent twister whirling down the center of the arena.

The cloud of smoke was whipped away, but the Typhlosion had released another fiery plume, which hit Ceto again. "Now, Ceto!" I ordered, and she drew water from the small pond at the side of the arena. As she condensed the water, the Typhlosion's body erupted in fire, it balled itself up, and then it started rolling quickly towards Ceto. The temperature in the room rose even higher, making my mouth feel dry and my arms feel as if they were being sunburned.

The Typhlosion was faster than Ceto, but she was able to release the pressurized water right into the flame wheel before it hit her, putting out the fire and stopping the Typhlosion's momentum. The Typhlosion did not move from the ground after it collapsed from Ceto's hydro pump. The Typhlosion was returned and the gym trainer approached me. I noticed that the gym was silent, so I looked up to the seating area to see people cheering, but their sound was being blocked by the thick window.

"Congratulations, trainer. You may now challenge Leader Zaiden. I noticed that you are particularly resistant to the gym conditions," he said. "I commend you for training yourself to resist the heat and the smoke. Stop by the participants' counter on your way out to schedule your battle, and good luck!"

I thanked Caleb and left after returning Ceto to her ball. When I reached the participants' counter, I could hear the crowd cheering, and several people were waiting for me in the lobby. I hurriedly discussed when my leader challenge would take place, and found that it would take place at noon on New Year's Eve.

I left the Gym shortly after amidst pats on the back and congratulations. _New Year's Eve, huh, _I thought to myself. _Either no one will show up to my match, or everyone will… Ugh, it will probably be the latter. _As if to answer my uncertainties, Jack Jones from Cinnabar LeagueWatch was waiting for me right outside of the gym's front doors.

"Well, congratulations Mr. MacAfee! A quick word for your fans?" he greeted, and I sighed, realizing that I would not be able to get away that easily.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The next few days were full of light training in preparation for my gym battle. We returned to the Smoky Forest, but only stuck to the lower regions. By returning to the mountains, we were able to avoid unwanted attention while staying close to the city.

The days passed quickly and before I knew it, New Year's Eve was upon me. I was one of four people who were challenging the gym that day as sort of a New Year's Special for Cinnabar Island Gym. Out of the four of us, I was fighting last, which meant that I had to wait almost an hour in the hot waiting room. When all three trainers had gone and I was finally called to the arena, I recalled Rufus and excitedly exited the waiting room.

The first thing I noticed was that the seating ring was so full that many people were standing. The second was Leader Zaiden standing in the middle of the field waiting for me. He was young in comparison to the other gym leaders whom I had faced before; probably in his late twenties. He was a bit taller than me, and his bright red spiked hair was clearly dyed. Moreover, Leader Zaiden was wearing nothing but red athletic pants, showing a chiseled, athletic torso devoid of any burns.

Leader Zaiden waited for me to approach before extending a hand and saying with a smile, "Welcome to the Cinnabar Gym, again. This is the seventh gym in the circuit, and home to Kanto's most fearsome fire-type pokemon. I am Gym Leader Shiro Zaiden, and I accept your challenge. Link your pokemon."

I did so, noting how quiet the arena was. An announcer was undoubtedly making an introduction for me in the seating area. "Great! You are allowed three switches, three items, and if you pass out, you forfeit. Now, take your position on the far side of the field and good luck. Perhaps the JIC champion can give the audience their first victory to celebrate."

I obeyed once more with a smirk, walking over to the side of the field with Lazarus's ball in my hand. Once I reached the side, I released my Electabuzz, who cracked his knuckles in expectation. Leader Zaiden then released a Rapidash, whose fiery mane flared brilliantly. The fight began intensely, with Lazarus casting a light screen over himself while avoiding a particularly hot fire blast which raised the temperature of the gym.

Lazarus then hit the large stallion with a charge beam, empowering his future electrical moves. The Rapidash then sent another ball of fire streaming at Lazarus, which hit him as he issued another charge beam. The blast sent Lazarus tumbling backwards. I yelled out to Lazarus as the Rapidash sped forward to him, wreathed in flames and with its horn lowered. Lazarus managed to jump out of the way, but the Rapidash reared and changed directions.

Lazarus let loose a powerful thunderbolt as the Rapidash exploded in fire, directing most of it into a cone which hit Lazarus directly. Both pokemon recoiled from the attacks, and Lazarus collapsed. I groaned and returned Lazarus. I sent out Gilles next, who cackled maniacally.

Gilles used his shadow to instantly move behind the Rapidash as the stallion attempted to spew fire at him. Within seconds, Gilles had forced the Rapidash down to the floor in a bloody mess with shadowy claws. Leader Zaiden recalled his fire stallion and sent out a Houndoom.

Knowing that the Houndoom held type-advantage, I switched out Gilles for Dante. Dante eyed his opponent competitively and I said, "Get in close and Sweep-Break. Watch out for pulses."

_Yes, J'Kun, _he responded. He then teleported behind the Houndoom, who let loose a powerful stream of fire at Dante's previous location. Dante kicked out the Houndoom's legs and then slammed his fist into its haunches. The Houndoom whipped its head around, with fire still pouring from it, and barely hit Dante before he teleported away. Dante appeared with a reddened arm and teleported in, again.

This time, Dante was hit by a dark pulse as he appeared and was thrown back. He teleported before he hit the ground, and he appeared twenty feet away on the other side of the Houndoom. "Again! Dodge!" I commanded, and Dante teleported in, only to teleport away quickly before the Houndoom loosed another dark shockwave. He then teleported in again and delivered the same combo as before while the Houndoom was vulnerable.

The Houndoom faltered after the brick break, and Dante finished it with a slash across its side. Leader Zaiden recalled the fiery hound and said, "Excellent choice." He sent out a Talonflame, which was slightly larger than Keith's.

The fiery falcon took to the air and performed a series of ultra-fast maneuvers towards Dante. Dante erected a reflective screen around him before he was hit by the fiery falcon. It raked Dante with its talons before flapping erratically, creating a fiery explosion around it as it lifted off into the air. Dante was hit with the fire and sent a few psychic cuts into the air towards the Talonflame, but only one managed to graze its right wing.

The Talonflame circled in the air and made short, successively quicker jumps until it faced Dante. "Thunder wave!" I yelled as it flew closer. The Talonflame passed above Dante, did a fast acrobatic backflip in the air, and shot straight down towards Dante, but Dante released a wave of electricity that caused the falcon's muscles to seize uncontrollably.

Dante moved out of the way and the falcon slammed into the ground. Dante was upon the Talonflame immediately, slashing ferociously with his arm blades until Leader Zaiden recalled it. The next pokemon, and last in the first phase, was a magnificent enormous canine. It stood five feet at its shoulders, and over seven feet at the top of its head. It had orange fur with black jagged stripes, and a bushy white mane. It was a fabled Arcanine.

"Extreme crunch," I heard Leader Zaiden say, and before Dante could obey my command to heal, the Arcanine shot forward like a bullet and impacted Dante with all of its weight, sending him careening backwards. The Arcanine kept moving with the extreme speed technique and delivered a devastating _Crunch _attack.

Dante could not teleport while in the Arcanine's jaws, so I yelled, "Thunder wave!" Electrical static wracked the Arcanine, who dropped Dante soon after, and I yelled, "Teleport and heal!" Dante obeyed and put room between him and his adversary before glowing with purple light. In the meantime, Leader Zaiden administered a full heal spray on his Arcanine and the canine eyed Dante angrily. "Double-Team!" I yelled, and Dante split into four different versions of himself.

The Arcanine barreled into one of them and it disappeared, but I saw the Arcanine's nose twitch before it turned around and lunged for another of the images. Dante disappeared, and all of his images disappeared as well before the Arcanine could land the attack. All of them reappeared on random sides of the arena a second later and I called out, "Grab'n'break!"

The Arcanine whipped its head around while letting loose an intense flamethrower around it. The flames hit multiple images which were advancing towards it, but the real Dante stepped forward behind the Arcanine, and his eyes glowed green before the Arcanine was lifted from the ground and propelled towards him. Then, Dante teleported in front of the Arcanine's trajectory, 15 feet above the ground. As Dante fell, the Arcanine passed beneath him, and Dante slammed his fist into its back.

The Arcanine crashed into the ground and tumbled forward. Dante landed on the dirt behind the Arcanine and followed up with several psychic blades which tore into the stunned beast. Leader Zaiden quickly recalled the magnificent canine and said, "Impressive combo! Haven't seen something like that in a League match before. Now, on to phase two!" The heat in the gym was almost unbearable, and my clothing was drenched in sweat.

A peculiar looking pokemon entered the field next. It was a six-foot-tall bipedal pokemon with a flaming head, tail, and shoulders. It had a mix of colors over its body and its clawed hands had wide holes in their centers. It was the evolved form of Magmar; Magmortar.

Dante teleported to one side of his opponent and started delivering wicked slashes, but the Magmortar turned on him and delivered a strong punch to Dante's head, releasing a fiery pulse from the barrel of his palm simultaneously. Dante was flung backwards by the sheer force of the blow, and when he landed, the Magmortar had already lined up a shot with its cannon-like arms.

Two separate Fire Blast attacks shot from its arms and Dante could not move in time. I raised my pokeball to return Dante, but the attacks both hit him. The fireballs blasted Dante back farther and he lay limp on the ground. Instantly filled with fear, I attempted to recall Dante and he thankfully disappeared into his pokeball, though the ball told me that he needed medical attention immediately.

The Magmortar's fire attacks had raised the room's temperature to well over 110 degrees, and I chose my next pokemon with that in mind. Ceto appeared in front of me and I issued my commands. Ceto drew all of the water from the pond on the side of the arena and brought it in front of her to block two blasts of fire. The fireballs caused a large portion of the water to evaporate and spread around the room, raising the humidity dramatically.

Ceto then sent a wave of water surging towards the Magmortar, and it jumped about ten feet into the air. The water hit its legs and chest, but the fire on the rest of its body remained untouched. It landed with a splash in a small puddle and raised a single hand. _Crack! _A bolt of electricity arched from its hand and hit Ceto, causing her to cry out in pain. I saw her mood change as she brought the rest of the water back to her. As she condensed a large portion of the water, the Magmortar sent another bolt of electricity at her.

The surge of electricity caused her body to tense up with paralysis. The Magmortar then ran forward at a speed faster than it looked capable of reaching, and it slammed a fist crackling with electricity into Ceto's side. I quickly recalled her and sent out Gilles, feeling nervous. While I did so, Leader Zaiden administered a restorative potion to the Magmortar's ball, healing it.

I exclaimed in frustration and ordered Gilles to hypnotize the Magmortar. He did so and I yelled, "Toxic and Hex!" He flew towards his opponent with a cackle. When he was ten feet away, he spewed black liquid onto the Magmortar, who did not stir from its slumber. Gilles's arms then elongated and started lashing out violently. The Magmortar awoke with a pained roar and sent out a confusing ray, which hit Gilles.

Gilles laughed uncontrollably as he started to float around in the air aimlessly. The Magmortar then raised both of its barrels and issued two Fire Blasts, which exploded upon impact with Gilles shadowy form. Gilles was wrenched out of his confusion and screeched in pain. "Venoshock!" I called out.

Gilles spewed more black liquid at the Magmortar, who shuddered as the liquid coated its skin, and then vomited blackened blood. It was mad, and it raised its cannons again. It shot a fireball from one and a lightning bolt from the other. However, Gilles had used his shadow to instantly flank his attacker, and slashed into it.

The Magmortar turned on him and I heard Leader Zaiden call out, "Overheat!"

My heart skipped a beat and I quickly yelled, "Destiny Bond!" Gilles reached his arms forward, and the shadows which composed them surged forward and entered the Magmortar's body through its mouth and nostrils. The Magmortar followed through with its orders and released most of its pent-up heat through its cannons directly into Gilles.

Gilles shrieked in pain and fell from the air as a shadowy blob. Though, as his form hit the ground, so did the Magmortar. Gilles had ensured that if he died as a result of the attack, so would his attacker. The gym leader and I both returned our pokemon. "Smart move," Leader Zaiden commented. I was having difficulty concentrating due to the heat in the room, which had risen above 120 degrees.

I released Rufus next while Leader Zaiden released his last pokemon; a Charizard. The Charizard issued a roar of challenge and Rufus snarled at his opponent. "Con-pulse!" I yelled. Rufus issued a pulse of dark energy in a concentrated cone which hit the Charizard in the face at the start of the battle. The Charizard snarled and shook its head before engulfing Rufus in an intense inferno.

Rufus, being a fire-type, was affected minimally by the attack, but even then, he retreated from the intense heat. He responded with another dark pulse, which hit the Charizard in the wing. The Charizard, having had enough of the dark attacks, flared its wings and drove them back hard. The dragon shot forward towards Rufus and collided with him using an effective aerial ace technique.

Rufus was caught in the dragon's fury, and though he tried to escape, the Charizard smashed its forehead and fists into Rufus with devastating fighting-type techniques. I saw the shimmer of the _Protect _technique multiple times during the Charizard's barrage of rock smashing. Then I saw Rufus shoot away while wreathed in flames, indicative of a flaming charge directed away from the dragon.

"Pulse then hyper beam!" I yelled. Rufus obeyed, sending a concentrated pulse of dark energy once again at the Charizard. It hit the dragon on the same wing as before, and I heard a sharp _crack _when it hit. The Charizard flinched in response to the pain, and Rufus charged up a hyper beam. The flinch allowed Rufus to charge the beam for slightly longer so that when he released the beam, it was more powerful than normal.

The beam struck the Charizard in the chest and drove it back, its feet sliding across the wet dirt. The Charizard then started building up its own hyper beam, and I yelled, "Protect!" before it could release the beam. The beam clashed with Rufus's Protect, but Rufus was not harmed. Quickly after shooting the hyper beam, the Charizard sent a pulse of draconic energy in the shape of a slender cone at Rufus, who was caught in the chest and blown onto his back. He did not move from the ground.

With a curse, I recalled Rufus and released my final pokemon, Azrael. Azrael roared at his opponent upon his appearance, and then rushed forward on my command in a swift dragon rush. He collided with the Charizard, who used its own protective technique in the last second. "Bulldoze!" I yelled, unfazed.

The Charizard was confined to the ground due to its wing hanging limply to the side, so it could not avoid the large swell of dirt that pummeled it. However, the Charizard was not finished. It let loose another dragon pulse and caught Azrael in neck. Azrael staggered back and the Charizard followed up with another, driving Azrael back.

After the second attack, Leader Zaiden administered a healing potion to the Charizard's ball, and the Charizard's wing snapped back together. With a pained roar, the Charizard looked at Azrael with renewed fight in its eyes. I quickly shouted, "Tomb and Whip," before the Charizard could act, and Azrael reduced the dirt below the Charizard into a swirling tomb of quicksand. The Charizard sank underneath its weight before it could take off into the air, and Azrael whipped his tail, slamming it into the side of the Charizard's head.

I quickly jumped into the air and stomped with both feet, and Azrael lifted a foot into the air. He brought it down hard and the ground shook violently. The Charizard, which was caught partially underground, was viciously jarred amongst the rocky earth, but still managed to charge a hyper beam from its position. It blasted Azrael and sent him stumbling backwards, but by the time Azrael caught himself, the earthquake had rendered the Charizard unconscious.

Leader Zaiden returned his Charizard and I fell to my knees. The mix of heat and excitement had made me dizzy and I could no longer keep on my feet. Before the heat could affect me more, though, I heard the whooshing sound of air being sucked somewhere, and the temperature in the gym cooled drastically.

Before I knew it, a bottle of water was being handed down to me from Leader Zaiden's outstretched hand. Azrael was beside me as well, beaming down at me with pride. I took the bottle and drained it before saying, "Great job, Azrael!" Azrael leaned down and let me grab a bulb on the side of his head to lift myself off of the ground. He then gently nipped my on the shoulder, though it did not feel so gentle.

I still laughed, and Leader Zaiden laughed as well. "Great job indeed, trainer," the gym leader remarked. "Congratulations on earning the Volcano Badge." He held out the badge and I took it from him. "With this badge, you will be presented with the TM for _Fire Blast_. One more badge lies between you and the end of the Junior League. You have maintained an undefeated record so far, so keep training and keep that record intact. It is a rare and magnificent trainer who can beat the league without a loss. Now, good luck and happy New Year!"

With that, he patted me on the back and motioned me to the exit. I returned Azrael and left, hearing the cheers of the fans growing louder and louder as I reached the Victors' Booth outside of the lobby. Though claiming my prizes at the Victor's Booth was at the forefront of my mind, my path was inevitably waylaid for a few minutes when I spotted a drinking fountain next to the bathrooms.

After retrieving my prize money and my TM, I entered the lobby and was greeted by what seemed to be the entirety of the spectators. The sound was deafening, and I could not even reach the gym exit before I was approached by Jack Jones holding a microphone.

With a sigh, I allowed him to interview me once again. I answered his questions as succinctly as possible so that I could leave for the Pokemon Center as soon as imaginable. Even though I wanted to leave, I could not help but notice the faces of the people in the crowd. They stood around watching me with admiration. While I did not care so much for the attention, I realized and appreciated the fact that those people were part of the humanity that I was training to protect. Their support took on a new meaning for me, and I allowed it to fill me with pride and joy.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

Lazarus – Electabuzz

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Author's note: I want to briefly clarify and reiterate a few things here. First, I understand that, in the games, Fuchsia City comes before Saffron City in the progression of gyms, but for the sake of keeping the gyms in an easier geographical circuit, I switched them. Second, I understand that the term "Wataru" is the name used for Lance in the Japanese version of the games, but seeing as I like how it sounds and that there is no name for Lance's clan that I could find, I decided to use it anyway. Third, I guess some people would have liked to have seen the MC further explore the Seafoam Caves, but unfortunately that is not the way things went. Fourth, again, this is an anecdotal story told from the perspective of the MC. Having said that, the MC is finally beginning to understand that his actions have consequences. Also, the Meteors are now gone! I wonder if that is the end of the MC's troubles… See you next time!


	22. Chapter 22: Heading Home

Chapter 22

_Hey, Zach. It's me. Just sending you this message to let you know that I'm challenging the Sootopolis gym in February. I'm fighting the trainer there on February 15__th__ so my actual gym match should be sometime soon after that. I'm letting you know now because I've got a plane ticket with your name on it! It will be leaving Viridian City on February 16__th__, so you make sure to get your butt to the airport! I saw your match on an interregional LeagueWatch special and wow, congratulations! You looked like you were going to pass out halfway through the match! Anyway, since you beat the seventh gym, I know that you will be heading to Viridian soon for the eighth, so you have no excuse not to make the plane. Can't wait to see you! – Sheila_

The message came as a pleasant surprise early in the morning on the Thursday before the Cinnabar Relay. Sheila gave me over a month's notice, and I was absolutely positive that I could make the journey to Viridian City in that time. The question was whether or not I wanted to challenge the Viridian City Gym before then, and I quickly came up with an answer.

I wanted to spend a longer period of time training for the Viridian gym than I had for the Cinnabar gym, which would be more than a month. By that estimate, I would have to return from Hoenn to continue training and then challenge the gym at a later unspecified date. Until then, I had plenty of things to worry about.

The week between my gym battle and the Cinnabar Relay was both exciting and tedious. It seemed as if everywhere I went in Cinnabar City, someone recognized me and wanted to take a picture with me or get my autograph. But it was exciting for a couple of other reasons, as well. Since I was waiting for the Relay in the city and giving my team a much-needed rest, I was able to find out how the Cinnabar Gym Leader was able to stop volcanic phenomena such as pyroclastic flows.

A gym trainer explained to me that the gym had a team of two Absol who could sense when the volcano was about to erupt, and five wispy Castform who could direct the pyroclastic flows away from the city. The Castform were small, but they had immense control over the elements of fire, water, and air.

The week was also exciting because I could watch the Champion Challenges, which are held during the first week of every year. While the actual televised footage of the matches was minimal, it was still a very exciting time of the year. People from all over Kanto traveled to the Indigo Plateau to support trainers who would challenge the Champion for his title.

During that week before the Relay, I would rest in the Pokemon Center lounge and watch the Plateau LeagueWatch channel. Unlike every other gym and League challenge, there is no arena in which spectators can sit and watch the Champion Challenges. In fact, the challenges are not open to the public at all. Challengers pass through an elaborate stone entrance on the side of the mountain, outside of which stands rows and rows of stands, and no one else is allowed to accompany them.

The LeagueWatch camera provides a live feed of trainers entering the stone passageway and then will pan over the stands until either the challenger or the champion emerges. If the challenger emerges from the passageway, it means that the Champion still reigns. If the Champion emerges, it means that his place has been taken.

Most trainers only challenge the Champion once in their lifetimes. The Champion's team is so formidable that many challengers' pokemon die in the fight. It is very rare for a trainer to challenge the Champion multiple times. Knowing that, it was unsurprising to see the majority of the challengers leaving with tear streaks under their eyes. _Trainers_ had also died in the challenges as well from the collateral damage of their fighters, indicating that the challenge was no ordinary fight.

At the end of the week, when the Cinnabar Relay drew close, Champion Volker remained the Indigo League Champion, and would remain so for yet another year. Also during that week, I watched a news story about tensions between Hoenn and the Sevii Islands escalating. Hoenn had been pushing the boundaries and sending naval forces into the Sevii Islands' territory. It was as Sheila had told me during the JIC; Hoenn had its own problems.

By the end of the week, trainers were flocking into Cinnabar City for the Relay. I did not recognize any of the trainers, but I knew that they were here for the Relay by the amount of flying pokemon I saw in the distance above the suburbs. On the night before the Relay, I was having a drink at the same outdoor bar where I had celebrated the Winter Solstice when a rowdy group of people showed up. They all seemed to revolve around two people, who were the loudest of them all.

Both of the men were in their upper twenties, they both had brown hair (though the taller one's was unkempt compared to the other), and they both had hazel eyes. Simply, they looked to be related, but that was all I could gather from mere observation. It was not until I heard one of the orbiting fans order a drink for the "Indigo Conference Champ and his brother" that I realized why the two men were so popular.

Interested, I asked one of the less rowdy-appearing groupies if the two guys would be competing in the Relay, and the boy nodded. Then he squinted at me for a second before his eyes went wide and he yelled, "Omagosh! You're Zachariah!"

I groaned inwardly and frowned as many of the people around him turned their attention to me. Enough of a commotion was caused that the attention of the two men was drawn to me as well, and they walked up to me. The taller one looked down at me with confusion, and then looked to the boy who had originally alerted everyone to my presence.

"What's the big deal, Marv?" the tall man asked the boy. His voice had a deep edge to it and his gaze was piercing.

"This dude's Zachariah MacAfee! He's JIC Champ from last year!" the boy responded.

The man looked back down to me and said with a laugh, "Well, lookie here! Looks like a peewee chump wants to run with the big boys." The jibe elicited laughs from the crowd. "I'm Victor Aldrich, and this is my brother, Logan. You get in our way and you might not be able to _lose_ in next year's Indigo Conference." Another cacophony of laugher rang out while the Aldrich brothers turned around and left the bar. "Let's go find a better bar," Victor called out, bringing with him the uproarious crowd.

The boy, apparently named Marv, looked to me and gave me an apologetic stare. "So, that asshole is the Indigo Conference Champion?" I asked.

He nodded and said, "Yeah, for three years, now. His younger brother was runner up for the past two and took fourth before then."

"Cocky assholes…" I muttered.

Marv heard me and gave an uncomfortable laugh. "Well, they both _are_ really good. If I were you, I would stay away from them. Victor's Aerodactyl is the meanest flyer I've ever seen, and Logan's Garchomp isn't much better."

"He has a Garchomp?" I asked.

"Yeah. They train together exclusively, so I guess a bit of the Aerodactyl's bad temper rubbed off on the Garchomp. They are a mean pair. Anyway, good luck tomorrow." Marv then scampered off to join the rest of the group.

I sat down where I had been before that entire fiasco, and sighed. When the waiter came over, I asked for the check, and he told me that the drinks were on the house. I gave a surprised smile and thanked him. "No problem. Every year we get cocky jerks like them. Don't let them rain on your parade, though. What you've accomplished so far is amazing."

The waiter gave me a pat on the back, and I left feeling much better than I had expected after encountering the Aldrich brothers. The Pokemon Center was full from the influx of competitors, but since I had been staying there long before, finding rooming accommodations was not a hassle I needed to worry about. I returned to my room and went to bed, looking forward to the competition that lay ahead.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

It was a cool, breezy day with few clouds in the sky. The crowd was restless while we waited for the race to begin. Around 50 other people stood in a line around me behind a rope on the ground, waiting and talking to pass the time as small action cameras were fitted to various pieces of our equipment.

I had purchased wind goggles for the race, remembering how much the air stung the last time I rode Azrael at high speeds, and the Relay official attached the action camera to the side of it before moving on to the next person. The cameras allow the race officials to monitor participant interactions firsthand, and they allow the spectators to watch the game from the perspectives of the racers.

After every trainer had been equipped with a camera, the officials released various flying mounts and took to the air. Among them, I saw for the first time a Pidgeot, the third evolutionary form in the Pidgey line. It was enormous at eight feet tall, and it had a colorful plume of long, flowing feathers. Its chest was broad and its talons looked large and strong enough to carry away an Arcanine.

I also saw another referee mount a Staraptor, the third evolutionary form of the Starly line. It was seven feet tall and its black feathers extended into a red-tipped crest over its head. Both of the large raptors were imposing, predatory creatures capable of flying extremely fast. However, they would still probably not be able to keep up with most of the competitors. That problem was solved by stationing many officials around the island so that they would be able to referee the race.

I shuffled as the crowd quieted down and a loudspeaker blared a greeting. **Welcome folks to the Cinnabar Relay - Where pokemon trainers from all over the country come to pit themselves against each other in a wild dash around the island! In a few moments, our very own gym leader will have the honor of signaling the beginning of the race. We wish every contestant the best of luck! **I then looked around and saw the people around me taking various stances, readying themselves for the initial rush in which we would all run to the takeoff zone a hundred yards away.

The announcer said his final words, and we waited in suspense as Gym Leader Zaiden stepped up to the side of the starting line with a revolver. **Contestants - Gym Leader Zaiden is taking the field! Prepare yourselves! **The tension in the air intensified for a few seconds before he raised the gun to the sky and shot a bullet-less round.

The starting line blurred into a flurry of charging people. From my position in the crowd, I could see several people including the Aldrich brothers pulling ahead of everyone else right from the start. Within a couple of seconds, around fifteen people had significantly pulled ahead of everyone else almost immediately, with the Aldrich brothers being at the forefront.

By the time I had run 30 yards, the Aldrich brothers and five others had reached the takeoff zone. By the time I had run 50 yards, the rest of the 15 racers reached the zone. The race was now divided from the very beginning into two distinct groups; the faster and the slower. While running amongst the larger, slower body of people, I could see the magnificent pokemon that were released by the faster group.

I saw an enormous gray dragon appear next to Victor, and a smaller, dark blue dragon appear next to Logan. By the time I arrived at the takeoff zone, both of them were climbing into their saddled mounts. It was then that I could get a good look at the dragons.

Victor's Aerodactyl was around 17 feet tall, two feet shorter than Azrael at the time, and its scales looked rough and rocky. Logan's Garchomp was around 12 feet tall, and upon my release of Azrael, it peered at us with a raised lip.

While I put Azrael's saddle on his back, I noticed Logan and Victor staring at us while their saddles formed around them. Azrael was deeply interested in the other Garchomp as well, raising his lip in response. Victor laughed at the interplay between us all and leaned down onto his Aerodactyl. His saddle formed around him in such a way that it held him tightly to the back of his pokemon. The same was true for Logan, though he was sitting on his Garchomp's shoulders and was lashed along its neck.

My saddle was still forming around Azrael when they and some of the others took off into the sky, sending waves of air in their wakes to batter those of us who were still on the ground. When I was able to mount Azrael, many people were already in the air, and a few others had run even further to the bay to release water pokemon, and were strapping various adaptations of saddles to their backs.

With a leap from Azrael's mighty legs, we were barreling into the sky. But even with our speedy ascent, the original 15 trainers were already far enough ahead that my chances of overtaking them were slim at best. I soon found out just how futile my hopes of doing that were.

The wind beating on my face was one of the only signs that told me I was traveling at high speed, for those ahead of me continued to rapidly put more distance between us. Less than half an hour into the race, when the first checkpoint was able to be seen, I had lost sight of them completely. Despite being so far behind, I was leading the other 35 contestants by a few hundred yards.

I was close enough to the competition to hear the sounds of battle ringing out behind me. I looked back to see a trainer and his Pidgeotto freefalling through the air, stunned by a particularly violent twister. Underneath, a large swell of water was carrying a trainer riding a surfboard and strapped to a Sharpedo with a ten-foot rope. The wave carried them high into the air, and then a column of water shot them both higher, where the Sharpedo body-slammed a Fearow from underneath.

Luckily, Azrael and I were far enough ahead to avoid the bedlam, but the chaos behind me was not what I had to worry about. As I was approaching the first relay checkpoint and starting to descend, I noticed that the clouds above it were dark and dropping water over the area.

As I drew closer, I noticed that the relay batons were spread out over a large area, half being in the water and half on land, though the majority of the batons on land were missing. The batons themselves were metal rods placed on small metal pedestals, which were anchored to the ground with stakes. The water-bound batons were floating on small buoys and anchored to the seabed with ropes.

We entered the storm in a fairly steep dive and were immediately buffeted by peculiarly strong wind currents. Azrael found it incredibly difficult to stay on course, and ended up landing 50 feet away from the baton he was aiming for inside the checkpoint. One moment the wind would be blowing us down to the left, and in another, the wind would whip us up to the right. The hurricane-like wind had an equal, if not worse, effect on the other trainers, some of which were swept away by the storm. But the wind was not as violent on the ground where the batons were stationed, as if the purpose of the hurricane was to mess with flight patterns.

When we landed, Azrael sprinted to the closest baton and grabbed it with his teeth. He twisted his neck around and I grabbed the baton from his mouth before he ran forward and leapt into the air. As we did so, other trainers were landing on the beach or passing through the water section of the checkpoint. Knowing that the hurricane was more intense higher in the air, I had to make a call between risking the violent winds of the hurricane at higher altitudes or the dangers of other trainers at lower altitudes.

I chose the latter. We stayed low, and since we had a sizeable lead over the other trainers, we managed to avoid being attacked. For the next segment of the first lap, Azrael flew as fast as he could, which was exhilarating. We managed to put much more room between us and those who were behind us once Azrael was flying as fast as he could.

Once again, we needed to slow down as we reached the second checkpoint. The weather was just as inclement as it was at the first checkpoint, and we once again lost some time landing. The baton pickup at the second checkpoint was different than the first. Each baton node had a light coming from it. In order to take a baton, the contestants needed to insert the first baton into the node, which unlocked the second. Then, once the contestant retrieved the second baton, the light on the node would switch from green to red.

It took slightly more time for me to figure out how the node worked, but once I did, I easily retrieved the second baton and took to the sky once more. We were far enough away from everyone else that we were not bothered again. Azrael was able to maintain his aerial sprint up until the next checkpoint, after we finished our first lap. The environment was stable at the checkpoint, except for in the water. A 300-foot-wide whirlpool was raging, stretching the buoys' ropes in a clockwise direction.

The landing was safe, though, and as we landed, I had an idea to contribute to the hazards of the race. After I switched out my baton, I told Azrael to create a sandstorm as he ran to take off. He complied and as we rose into the air, the checkpoint became obscured by the sand on the beach, making it difficult for future racers to find their batons.

With a mischievous smile on my face, we took to the air again. I chuckled, not unlike Gilles, at the thought that I had made other racers' lives that much more difficult. I should have kept my joy to myself, for Karma can be a spiteful bitch.

Azrael was able to keep up his aerial sprint for half of the distance between the third and fourth checkpoints. By that time, I could feel him heaving underneath me, and the flapping of his wings was strained. We slowed down and ended up gliding for most of the rest of the distance to the fourth checkpoint.

During that time, the racers behind me miraculously gained enough ground to overtake us. Though it was not until they did that I realized who they were. As Azrael and I descended to move out of the way, a figure blotted out the sun above us. I looked up to see the blue-scaled claws of Logan's Garchomp rushing towards Azrael's back.

"Move!" I yelled, and Azrael twisted just in time to avoid being body-slammed by the smaller Garchomp. However, he was raked across his thigh by the Garchomp's claws, leaving shallow gashes. Azrael peeled away after that, letting Logan continue past us. They were so much faster than us that they put several hundred feet between us in the span of thirty seconds.

Soon after we regained our composure, we were dive-bombed by Victor. His Aerodactyl was not as fast as the Garchomp, but it was still much faster than us. Azrael moved, but it drove its head down onto Azrael's back, behind me, with a metallic slam. Azrael plummeted towards the ground with a roar while Victor laughed loudly.

"I told you not to get in our way, chump!" he yelled, and continued past us. Azrael was able to catch himself before we hit the water, but we were both considerably pissed off and shaken. We could not do anything to satiate that anger, though.

When we reached the fourth checkpoint, the beach was smoky, and as we landed, we sank into the ground. The entire area had been turned into quicksand and we were taken by surprise. Luckily, Azrael could move relatively easily through the liquid earth, but we needed to find a patch of hard ground in order to take off. We ended up spending an additional five minutes at the fourth checkpoint before we left, and by that time, I could see the large group in the distance approaching the sandbar.

Some of those racers overtook us, and I recognized them as more competitors from the faster group. By that time, since Azrael was tiring and I had learned my lesson with the expert fliers, I had Azrael keep his distance from them. They passed us, and when we flew over the finish line, people were cheering for the Aldrich brothers who had just finished first and second.

Knowing that the Aldrich brothers lapped me was humiliating enough to keep me focused on completing the race as quickly as possible instead of fuming about their audacity.

Azrael was able to maintain a respectable pace, but by the time we reached the fifth checkpoint, which was in the final lap, the other racers from the slower group were appearing in the distance behind us. Azrael summoned up another sandstorm while we were on the ground, but that time it was due to a felt necessity to keep my competition at bay.

We were in the air before the other racers were close enough to descend. Though Azrael was spending more time gliding than sprinting, he was incredibly worn out. Each lap of the race was around 100 miles in length, which was enough to gradually wear him down. And while Azrael was worn out, the other racers were no doubt tired as well.

The difference is that many other pokemon are better suited for stamina than Garchomp; especially one as large as Azrael. However, if a Garchomp is trained to have more aerial endurance, or physical endurance in general, it can become faster and stronger than even the most adept aerial creature. That is how Logan and his Garchomp could win against an Aerodactyl or a Pidgeot. And it is how I was able to keep my lead in front of the second group. With my rigorous training methods, Azrael had become strong enough to keep his lead in front of my competition. It also did not hurt that he obscured the checkpoints with a sandstorm when we retrieved our last baton.

The end of the race was bittersweet. While we did not win the race or come even close – we placed 17th – we did manage to beat out the larger group of people who were obviously in a different league than the more experienced trainers. In that regard, I was more relieved at finishing the race than disappointed. I left as quickly as I could to avoid the crowds and spent one more night at the Pokemon Center before I left for Route 21.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Route 21 is similar to Routes 19 and 20 in that most of it is water. The difference is the amount of land available. There is only one small island in the roughly 120 miles between Cinnabar Island and the mainland, and it is 20 miles from Cinnabar Island. That means that there is 100 miles of open water that one needs to cross to make it to the southern coast of the mainland.

The mainland also stretches out to sea to the west of Route 21, so if I needed to find somewhere to rest, I could swim off the route into unregulated waters to reach the western banks. Of course, I had no intention of utilizing that possibility.

I intended to make the trip in two or three days. With that in mind, I knew that I might have to travel at night. So, I planned accordingly and decided to leave before the sun rose on the morning after I arrived on the island.

With all of my plans made, I gathered my belongings, bought supplies, and retrieved my raft. I set out onto Route 21 soon after. The first day reminded me of the irritatingly constant threat of Tentacool and Tentacruel that I had to deal with on the previous water routes. Gilles must have killed 20 of them while Ceto dragged me along during the first day.

We reached the island with no problems aside from the wild jellyfish, and we fished after a training session. We were able to catch many fish since the route was either generally or seasonally untraveled, and we ate our fills before going to bed early in preparation for the next morning.

The next morning, I awoke as the early discolorations of the sky began to sparkle on the liquid horizon. Remoraid were jumping from the water with discordant splashes, and Pelipper were swooping down in attempts to catch them. Ceto headed the raft at first, as always, pulling me along with no problem and even catching a few of the jumping fish.

Ceto's stamina while pulling me in the raft had improved dramatically since setting out onto Route 19. She could probably pull me the full 100 miles to the coast if I let her.

As it happened, during the middle of the day, we passed within 50 feet of a pod of Wailmer led by a Wailord. The Wailord was the largest creature I had ever seen. Its body seemed to stretch on and on underwater as it passed us, and multiple Wailmer followed around it. We halted and watched them with wonder, and they eyed us warily, though they did not mean us any harm. We were even sprayed by their blowholes a few times before they swam away to the south.

Despite being awed by the size of the Wailord and the friendliness of the pod, I could not shake my sense of paranoia that Gyarados would suddenly attack. Thankfully, none did, but I was on edge the entire time.

Ceto started to tire out after almost 15 hours of pulling. During that time she was able to stop many times and rest while Gilles or Azrael defended us against Tentacool or the occasional Tentacruel. At that time, I switched Ceto with Azrael and we continued onward.

During our travel, I noticed that the temperature was lowering rapidly as we moved north. Even though Cinnabar Island was only 100 miles away from the mainland, the temperature difference was astounding. It became colder and colder as we chugged onwards, and I was compelled to don my cold weather gear before long.

The day was long, boring, and methodical. Aside from the occasional Tentacool battle, nothing distracted Azrael or Ceto from the repetitive process of dragging me northward. As night approached, I was beginning to feel nervous about having not seen the mainland yet.

I had left early to spend as little time possible on the water at night because I would not be able to see attacking pokemon. I would need to rely solely on Gilles or even Dante, to take care of any threats without my direction. Moreover, if my pokemon were injured, I would have no way of knowing about it.

Gilles came through for me that night. He was able to fend off attackers throughout the remainder of the journey to the coast. I could not see him, but I knew he was fighting when I heard the splash of his descent into the water.

I lost count of the amount times that Gilles entered a fight. I knew that he would tire out from the constant battling eventually, so I rejoiced when I saw the first ray of a lighthouse pierce the night sky. With a whoop, I told Azrael that we were almost there, and he gave a happy roar. He then picked up speed with renewed vigor.

When we finally hit sand, I jumped out of the raft and gave Azrael a hug around his thick neck. He rumbled tiredly and I returned him after thanking him. Then, I released Rufus and Dante, who accompanied me into the small beachside town of Myremoor where I checked into a Pokemon Center.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The next day I scoped out the business franchise that had sold me the raft and sold it back to them for a small fraction of its original price. Then I decided on my next move, about which I had spent ample time thinking while on the raft. Instead of heading north to Pallet Town, I left Myremoor and turned southwest.

Hundreds of snow-covered, untamed miles stretched on in that direction, eventually entering the Johto region. No routes traveled through it aside from the northern Routes 26 and 27, so it was largely unregulated. It was the perfect opportunity for me to train my pokemon in preparation for the Viridian City Gym. I would train out there until a week and a half before my plane was scheduled to leave, and then head to Viridian City.

To start, I traveled on the back of Azrael as far southwest as I felt necessary in a day. Azrael did not need to fly at top speed, so we took it easy but still put a large distance between us and Myremoor by the time we descended upon a small lake. There, we made camp and hunted for dinner in the twilight of the day.

Dante's power of psychically locating prey allowed us to gather a respectable amount of food, and we held a short practice before we settled down for the night. The next day was almost a repeat of the first in that we flew at an easy pace for half of the day. In two days, we had traveled roughly 500 miles and were thoroughly thrusted into the wilderness.

We decided to stop once we found a very large lake. Once again, Dante's ability to psychically find prey nearly negated the need to track and significantly reduced the time it took to hunt. In half-an-hour, Azrael had taken to the skies with Dante on his back directing him to the nearest Stantler, and Rufus and Gilles had disappeared into the forest to return later with several Lopunny. Meanwhile, Ceto, Lazarus, and I hunted for aquatic game. But after I had hauled in a Bibarel and was in the process of hauling in my third Bidoof from its den, I heard a voice in my head.

_You've taken more from the lake than you need, methinks. Four lives for three bellies? And what have you given the lake in return?_

I looked around in surprise. The voice was unlike Dante's; it sounded like a deep echo from underwater. "Uh… Sorry?" I proclaimed to the air. Ceto emerged in the water in front of me, cracking some of the surrounding ice, and started pushing me away from the shore. Lazarus seemed equally as surprised as I, though, and waited for any sign of trouble.

_Ah, yes, hehehe… A horrible, half-hearted plea for forgiveness… Perhaps it should elicit a horrible, half-hearted response? Perhaps, if I said, "Then _maybe _I'll spare your ungrateful, greedy lives," you would give a more convincing charade of remorse._

If the voice was aiming to frighten me, then it failed. I was more confused and annoyed than afraid, and I had two of my pokemon nearby to protect me if I needed them. I chose to call the voice's bluff and stand my ground without apologizing again.

_Your impudent silence will only seal your doom, trespasser!_

The voice sounded angrier with its last proclamation, and I saw a spot in the lake 50 feet from the shore and just beyond the water's ice cover begin to shift. From that spot emerged a large pinkish creature with a bone crest on its head holding what looked to be a Shellder. It had white and red frills about its shoulders and it looked somewhat like a Slowbro, but with the Shellder on its head instead of its tail. The bone crest holding down the Shellder almost looked like a jagged crown of sorts.

Immediately, Lazarus jumped in front of me protectively and leveled a crackling palm at the creature. In the meantime, I took the time to retrieve my PokeDex and scan the creature. It told me that the creature was a Slowking, an alternate evolutionary form of Slowpoke that was discovered almost 200 years ago, and has since remained incredibly rare.

I did not take the time to read any more of the description, for Lazarus released a crackling bolt into the creature, who raised a barrier before the electricity could hit it. It then followed up with a strong psychic attack that sent Lazarus crashing into a nearby tree. Ceto then hit the Slowking with a powerful Dragon Pulse, knocking it back underwater.

_It seems you possess some talent. I might need to wake the Guardian of the lake to deal with you, though I would hate to do so…_

As the creature talked, I started hearing distant cracking noises, and I noticed glowing blue and purple eyes appearing all over the edges of the lake, matching similarly colored ruffles of feathers behind them. At least 20 Golduck were emerging from the lake through the ice and moving towards us. I also heard a twig snap in the forest behind me, so I looked over my shoulder to see several distant glowing eyes amongst the trees. With a gulp of realization, I said out loud, "I'm sorry for disturbing this lake. We were hungry and did not think that we were overstepping any boundaries."

_Silly human. Now that you see the odds against you, you try to plead for forgiveness? Why should the Guardian of the lake forgive you; you who have trespassed and taken more than your share from her domain?_

"Everything that we took from the lake will be eaten. The rest of my team are nearby, and will no doubt fight to defend me. The loss from the lake will not outweigh the cost to defeat me and my team," I said, trying to both reason with and intimidate the intelligent creature.

_This team of yours… Funny how they are absent when you need them. Methinks you are bluffing, _the Slowking said, raising its head out of the water.

The horde of Golduck continued to advance from the lake, a few crawling up onto the shore a hundred feet away. I then felt a slight breeze hit the back of my neck. A pair of eyes soon appeared behind the Slowking's bobbing head, and the sound of giggling filled the air about the lake. The sounds of barking, snarling, and avian screeching rang out in the forests behind me as well.

Then, a deep roar projected from the Slowking as a shadowy claw broke off a piece of the crown-like bone structure on its head. Gilles materialized next to me juggling the piece of bone, still giggling. Before I knew it, Rufus was standing next to me as well. "As you can see," I yelled. "My team is returning, and more are still on their way."

…_Oh really?_ the Slowking replied, a hint of nervousness in its voice.

"Rufus, call for Azrael and Dante," I ordered, and my Houndoom let out a booming howl. The lake was silent afterward, but the Golduck continued to advance, albeit with more caution than before.

After a brief pause, the Slowking said, _It seems you team is really j-_

A distant roar interrupted the Slowking, and the horde of Golduck stopped advancing. Dante appeared with a _pop! _and assessed the situation. He looked at the Slowking and his eyes glowed green. All was silent for a few seconds as an unheard conversation took place between the two psychic pokemon. Then, inexplicably, the Slowking dived down into the water.

_J'Kun, brace yourself, _said Dante as he erected a light screen over me.

The center of the lake seemed to draw upwards as if being pulled by a string, and a blue light glowed from its depths. As the light grew brighter, the water bulged upwards even more until a slender figure pierced the tip of the swell. The water receded but the figure remained floating above the lake. It was a 30-foot pale serpentine creature with a blue and red colored tail, red antennae, and long, flowing red fins above its eyes.

It zipped over the surface of the lake towards us until it floated a hundred feet out from the shore. I held my breath in awe, for it was a Milotic; a rare, beautiful, and powerful sea creature. My pokemon tensed as it grew near, but I felt the tension in the air recede rapidly, and I raised my hands in peace. From what I knew about Milotic, they were capable of affecting the moods of nearby creatures. They can be incredibly friendly, but when angered, they exert devastating control over water.

My pokemon seemed to calm down as well. The Milotic simply hovered in the air and gazed at us. The Slowking even emerged beneath it and was silent. Then, the silence was interrupted by a mighty roar and a violent tremor as Azrael landed on the beach, sending sand flying everywhere and dropping a bloody Stantler corpse. He raised his head towards the Milotic and bared his teeth aggressively.

My heart skipped a beat as I stood there stunned. I thought for certain that all hell was going to break loose, but Azrael's lips began to cover his teeth and his breathing began to slow. The Milotic peered at me with intense red eyes for a minute before the Slowking spoke. _The Guardian finds you trespassers amusing. However, she wonders why you chose to disturb her domain in the first place. Did you want to try to draw her out so that you could capture her?_

As the Slowking asked his last question, the Milotic's eyes peered at me with more intensity. I opened my mouth to respond and noticed all of the eyes around me glowing, including the Slowking's. "We came to this lake because it was a water source. We had no prior knowledge about its inhabitants. We simply found water and stopped for the night to hunt for food and prepare to continue on our way tomorrow." In reality, I had considered staying next to the lake for the duration of our training, but I was uncertain of that now.

The glowing eyes around me did not dim, but the Slowking looked frustrated. _So you do not wish to attempt to capture her. And the lives you took were to provide sustenance for yourselves. The Milotic believes that your words are reasonable and believable. However, she has no way of knowing if you speak the truth or if you lie. _

"Can't you read my mind?" I asked. "You are talking to me in my head, so doesn't that mean you can read my mind?"

_It is not the same, J'Kun, _I heard Dante say in my mind.

_We cannot read your mind, so we cannot decide whether you tell the truth or not, _the Slowking responded. _We do not know if you will simply attack when we lower our guard, and take away our beloved Guardian. _

"How can I prove it to you?" I asked.

_The Guardian is aware that you are strong. Testing your strength will only serve to show us that you are strong enough to possibly take her away. Likewise, testing your keenness will show us only that you are capable of possibly outwitting her. What assurance can you give her that you do not mean to take her away?_

"I already have a strong water-type pokemon on my team. I am out here to train; not for treasure," I responded. "Our goal is to be the best, and to do that, we need to train."

_And surely you know that the Guardian would make a powerful addition to your team; fit for the harshest tests your _gyms _can throw at her. Yes, she knows about the league of humans and pokemon. _

I knew that there was no way I could prove that I did not want to catch her. Honestly, I was incredibly annoyed at the entire situation. I had come here looking for somewhere to train but now I was being interrogated by a powerful sea serpent who could probably kill some of my pokemon before we could kill her. So I said what I had been told multiple times before.

"Then you know that the League protects the balance between pokemon and humans. I believe that I may have tipped a microcosm of that balance by upsetting you, but I believe that hunting for my food and for my team's food will not damage that balance irrevocably. I do believe that if I were to try to take _you_ away from here, the damage to this microcosm _would _be irrevocable."

The Milotic's head slightly twitched at those words. _You speak of the balance as if you know much about it._

"Only what I was taught," I answered. "And I believe in my teachers, Aoro Craul and Bruce Volker."

_The man of dragons? _the Slowking relayed, causing me to falter.

"Y-yes," I stammered. "You know of Champion Volker?"

_Yes. That knowledge you spoke of should be commonplace, but few truly know of its depth. The man of dragons is one of those who does. _The Milotic scrutinized me for a few more moments before continuing. _She has decided that you are not a threat to her. _

"That's a relief," I said, slightly sarcastic.

_However, there is something that you could do for her as a show of good faith. _

"Oh?" I asked, not the least bit surprised.

_An intruder made its nest nearby during the last snow, and since it has, much of the local wildlife has been driven away by its territorial anger or has succumbed to its insatiable hunger. _

"And you want me to get rid of it," I stated, knowing where it was going.

…_Naturally. If you are strong enough to drive it away, the Guardian may consider revealing to you some valuable information. And she will let you stay near the lake for the remainder of your training._

"Hmm. What is this creature," I inquired.

_I know not what you would call it, but it is a formidable creature. Do not underestimate it. _

"Duly noted. Where can I find it?" I asked.

The Slowking was silent for a few moments before he said, _A day's walk towards the setting sun. _I nodded.

_J'Kun, I have a bad feeling about this, _said Dante nervously.

"I do too, Dante. After all, if that Milotic and her entourage are so powerful, why would they need us to deal with whatever the creature is?" I whispered back.

_My thoughts exactly, J'Kun. _

The Slowking seemed to hear what I said, for his voice rang back in my head. _Do not think that we are weak for asking you to take care of a pest. But you _should _be wary of it. If you want to stay and train beforehand, the Guardian will allow it. The creature will not be leaving any time soon. _

"Thank you. I think I will do just that. I would also like to know what I'm going up against so that I may train to combat it appropriately," I responded.

_Very well. You may stay here for a fortnight. Do not overstay your welcome._

The Milotic then dived into the lake and the Golduck all retreated. The last one remaining was the Slowking, who simply turned his back and submerged, leaving me and my pokemon standing alone on the beach. "That was… Interesting… So, Dante, how is it that psychics can talk to me in my mind, but they can't read it?" I asked.

_It is… complicated… Imagine a deep hole in the ground. I may throw a rock into it, which is like talking to you. However, I cannot see the contents of the hole. Unlike many other Yeshka, whose minds are holes that are lit from the inside to reveal their contents, your mind is without that light. _

"Great…" I sighed, not wanting to think about the possibility that something might be wrong with me. "Alright everyone. Eat your fill so that we can get in a short practice before bed. Tomorrow we are going to find out just what we're dealing with."

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The distance of a day's walk passed in a fraction of the time atop Azrael's back. We covered 20 miles of rough terrain at a casual pace in under an hour. I suspected that we were growing closer to the creature when I noticed large, fallen trees, large snowy gashes in the ground, and very few pokemon.

We descended, I recalled Azrael, and then I released Dante. "Dante, when I tell you, teleport us as far back the way we came as you can. We'll need to be very careful. Keep your mind open and let me know when you sense whatever it is."

_Understood, _was his reply. We then started walking, our path diverted many times due to the amount of fallen debris and unstable terrain. Half an hour later, he said, _I sense something, J'Kun! _Then he looked to the north and we changed our course. Our feet crunched in the snow, creating the only sound aside from the whistling groan of the wind.

Nothing had passed through the area since the snow had dropped to disturb the integrity of the white blanket, indicating that either the snow was newly fallen or that nothing resided there. I consciously made an effort to decrease the amount of noise I made, but it was nigh impossible with the unbroken layer of snow on the ground.

Before long, I noticed that the rhythmic groan of the wind was growing louder, but it seemed out of sync with the feel of the cold wind on my cheek. It became apparent why after I heard what sounded like a dull thunder roll ring out from a small snow-covered hill. A part of the hill then closed and I realized that it was a beastly snore, and that the sound of the wind was actually the sound of deep breathing.

I was a hundred feet away from the "hill" when I realized that it was a creature. I stared in wonder at the thing, for aside from its mouth, its entire body was covered with snow. I had no idea how long it had been sleeping there, but soon after I realized that it was alive, the snoring stopped and a large flat nose emerged, sniffing loudly and deeply.

A large portion of the hill shifted and snow fell away, revealing dark green and tan matted fur around closed, watermelon-sized eyes. I froze as I realized that the top of the hill, at 12 feet in height, was just the bulge from its stomach as it lay on its back. Its nose twitched as it sniffed the air and it yawned, revealing a maw lined with large teeth and inside of which I could easily fit. Then, one of its enormous eyes opened and focused on me.

"Dante, NOW!" I exclaimed. Immediately, the scenery changed and I was standing in a small, snowy clearing. Then, the scenery changed again and I was standing in my camp. My heart was racing and I was breathing heavily.

Dante noticed and asked, _J'Kun, what is it?_

"That… was a… Snorlax!" I forced out amidst my heaving. I mentally received a confused emotion from Dante and took a couple minutes to slow my breathing. I then sat down and rubbed my temples. "Snorlax are probably the most vicious, formidable creatures apart from dragons. No wonder the pokemon have been scared away!"

_We will triumph over this impressive foe, J'Kun! _Dante said with a raised fist.

I nodded slowly and sighed. "Yeah." I let out a deep breath. "Well, it looks like we got our work cut out for us. Pest, my ass!" As I started to think about a training regimen, I had the crazy idea that I might be able to catch the Snorlax, but then quickly wrote it off. Champion Red was the last known trainer to have successfully caught and controlled a Snorlax. Besides being notoriously difficult to weaken, they are also highly resilient towards pokeballs and extremely resistant to domestication.

While I am not averse to challenging myself or my team, I knew that trying to catch a Snorlax was a prize not worth the heavy risk. Of course, if I saw a chance to catch the Snorlax, I would not pass it up.

Before then, I had two weeks to work on strength, speed, and toughness. Speed would help my pokemon dodge the Snorlax's devastating attacks. If the Snorlax managed to land a hit, my pokemon would need to be tough enough to withstand its attack, given that it could put all of its immense weight behind a strike. Strength would be key, though, because only the most powerful attacks would breach a Snorlax's thick hide and fat.

The next two weeks were full of three practices every day, with each practice dedicated to a different aspect of battle. The morning practices were dedicated to improving the strength of key moves, such as Lazarus's bolts and focus blasts, Dante's fighting techniques, Ceto's ice beams, Rufus's hyper beams and fire blasts, Gilles' Bloodboil, and Azrael's earth techniques.

The afternoon and evening practices were both dedicated to bludgeon tag for the most part. The afternoon games of bludgeon tag had different rules than the evening games, though. In the afternoon, the defending pokemon needed to take the attacks but block them with _Protect_. In the evening, the defending pokemon needed to take one hit and dodge another, and so on.

By the time we were ready to confront the Snorlax, my pokemon were markedly more adept at using the _Protect _technique, and their other trained traits had also improved a bit. Before we left on the morning of the 14th day, the Slowking appeared once more to us.

_Good luck, human. Before you go, I need to warn you. Simply causing the creature to run away will not be enough. You will need to pursue it far enough that it will seek territory someplace else to call its own. _

"Good to know…" I muttered as I fitted Azrael's saddle to his back. I mounted him and we took to the sky. I mentally prepared myself for the coming battle and patted Azrael on neck, saying, "If we pull this off, Azrael, we will definitely have something to be proud of."

Azrael rumbled his agreement and we flew until we started noticing the signs of destruction which indicated the Snorlax's presence. Then, we descended and I released all of my pokemon. Dante immediately started searching for the Snorlax. _This way, J'Kun, _Dante said, and started walking.

We followed - Azrael underground, Gilles hidden in the air, and the rest walking or floating around me. It took us about the same amount of time as before to find the slumbering monstrosity. It had moved to a different location, and it had acquired a light dusting of snow as a blanket. As soon as we approached within a hundred feet, it caught our scent and started to stir.

I did not allow the Snorlax the opportunity to ready itself. Our only advantages lay in our numbers and in our surprise/ ambush tactics. I stomped hard and jabbed my hand forward, signaling my pokemon to attack. Lazarus, Rufus, and Ceto struck first as the Snorlax lethargically opened its eyes. Lazarus used a charge beam to increase the power of his electricity, Rufus sent out a ball of fire that exploded upon impact, and Ceto used a scalding water attack.

The Snorlax's eyes immediately opened wide as electricity danced over its fur and as the burning water scorched its side. It let out a bloodcurdling roar that literally sent a shockwave through the vicinity. The roar was cut short as Gilles spat out toxic liquid, Dante appeared beside it with a heavy fist to its side, and Azrael emerged from below the ground with a wave of dirt.

Azrael's wave of snow and dirt pummeled the Snorlax hard, managing to roll it a couple of feet back, but the Snorlax was instantly acting faster than a creature of its sheer size should. It pounded into Dante, who managed to absorb the attack with a protective barrier, and it pushed forward into Dante, moving him back under a vicious onslaught of attacks. Dante's barrier remained active throughout the non-stop assault while the rest of my team attacked the behemoth.

My team's attacks were largely ignored. The Snorlax's hide was so thick that it was only marginally affected by them. It allowed the furious behemoth to keep up his barrage of body slams into Dante until Dante could no longer keep up his protective barrier. Dante took one hit in his tired state and flew backwards into a tree with a sickening _snap_, but the Snorlax did not change its target. I saw it open its mouth and lunge, but Dante teleported away.

He appeared beside me, and I noticed that his arm was broken at the elbow. By the way he held his body, I could tell that he was in immense pain, so I returned him to his pokeball. During that time, the Snorlax had switched targets. In an instant, the Snorlax tensed and shot backwards into Azrael, who was not expecting the attack. The Snorlax crashed into Azrael with its back, and the devastating Giga Impact sent him careening backwards, demolishing several trees.

I looked at Azrael's ball to see his health at 30%, but rendered unconscious by the sudden attack. I returned Azrael from in front of the Snorlax and then released him behind me so that when he awoke, he could resume the fight. The Snorlax was momentarily stunned by its own attack, which allowed my pokemon to continue attacking him unfettered.

I ordered Rufus to charge up a hyper beam, and for the rest of my team to continue to use the attacks with which we had practiced. Gilles' Bloodboil technique was having the most effect, albeit still minimal. Lazarus was glowing brighter than he ever had before from continually charging his body. It was Rufus's hyper beam that jolted the Snorlax back into action while forcing it back several feet.

The Snorlax rounded on Rufus with a barrage of body slams. The first attack hit Rufus and sent him flying back, but the next attack landed on a protective barrier. He was prone on the dirt, focusing all of his energy on maintaining the barrier. Before long, though, his barrier failed just like Dante's had, and he was vulnerable to the Snorlax's attack which hit him, knocking him out. I returned him before the Snorlax could finish him, which only pissed off the giant monster more since he had been denied a meal twice now.

The Snorlax's angry roar once again pierced the air, and it turned its attack to Lazarus, who was now letting loose overpowered bolts of thunder into the oversized creature. Lazarus dodged the first, second, and third body slams by jumping to the side, then to the Snorlax's shoulder, then back down again, but he was hit by the fourth. The Snorlax lunged forward in another Giga Impact, and crashed into Lazarus with its full weight.

I heard another sickening _snap_ as several bones broke within Lazarus, and I returned him immediately. I was very nervous and scared now that Ceto and Gilles were the only ones still able to fight. The Snorlax turned to Ceto and charged forward, only to disappear in a red flash into a pokeball that I had thrown. I quickly administered a reviving potion to Rufus's pokeball as I yelled, "Ceto, hydro pump! Gilles, hypnotize it!"

Before I finished my orders, the Snorlax broke out of the pokeball and turned its furious gaze to me. I almost peed my pants, but it was hit in the eye by Ceto's powerful blast of water. It roared in pain and Gilles managed to put it into a hypnotized stupor. I released Rufus, who shook his head and raised his lip. Then I administered a reviving potion to Azrael, who shook himself awake and moved forward.

The Snorlax was not helpless. As it stood where it was, hypnotized, it let out a bombastic snore which literally knocked me off my feet. I hit my head on the ground through the snow, but I managed to stay conscious and say, "Rufus and Azrael, charge up a hyper beam. Ceto, hydro pump. Gilles, Bloodboil. Everyone aim for its face."

Rufus and Azrael began to charge up beams of energy as I stood and ran backwards. Soon after, they all released their attacks onto the Snorlax's head. The Snorlax woke with a bellow, and raised its mighty paws to its face. Pieces of flesh and singed fur fell to the snow.

The Snorlax, having had enough punishment, turned away and began to run on all fours. "Pursue!" I yelled. "Azrael, let me up!" I ran to Azrael, returning Ceto, and climbed onto his back as the rest of my pokemon took off after the Snorlax.

Azrael took a few steps and launched himself into the air. We stayed just above the treetops and soon passed Rufus and Gilles before catching up to the Snorlax. "Azrael, trip him up!" I yelled, bracing myself for what I knew was coming. We had practiced the attack together a few times, but the actual attack would be much more intense.

Azrael dived down behind the running Snorlax and impacted the ground. In the process, he created a bulldozing swell twice as thick and twice as powerful as his normal ground waves, and I was violently jarred. The wave impacted the Snorlax's hindquarters and propelled it forward. It stumbled and crashed into a few trees, knocking them over.

I flipped the emergency switch on Azrael's saddle and the tethers released me instantly, which allowed me to jump from Azrael's back and run away from the large beast. Rufus bounded from the forest and passed by me wreathed in fire. Gilles passed above me and I released Ceto beside me.

The Snorlax had rounded on Azrael and had entered into a body-slamming frenzy. Before Azrael's barrier could fail, I returned him and released him twenty feet away. During that time, the Snorlax transferred its attention to Rufus, body slamming him over and over. I returned and released him just as I had Azrael to avoid him being injured.

The Snorlax then charged towards Ceto, who was right next to me shooting ice beams at it. I backpedaled in fright, but Azrael slammed into the side of the Snorlax with a heavy Dragon Rush. The Snorlax faltered and stumbled, allowing Azrael to begin pounding it with bulldoze attacks. Rufus sent a steady stream of fire onto it while Ceto blasted it with ice.

The Snorlax suddenly leapt from its prone position and landed in a roll. It continued into a quick rollout while I once again mounted Azrael and returned Ceto. We flew after the rolling giant, but I heard in my head, _You have succeeded. There is no need for you to pursue the creature any more._

I gave a sigh of relief and yelled, "Azrael, let Gilles and Rufus know to stop!" He roared and descended. Rufus and Gilles appeared nearby and I returned them to their balls after thanking them. I patted Azrael on the neck and said, "We need to head back to town. Dante and Lazarus need medical attention. We can stop by the campsite to gather out stuff, but we need to go."

Azrael rumbled his acknowledgement and I lay down over his back. "That was intense." Azrael huffed. "I bet you've never been hit that hard before," I laughed, and Azrael groaned. "Don't worry, we'll get your wounds healed as well." Azrael then stretched his wings and took off.

Within the hour we arrived back at the lake. I started packing my things and I heard in my head, _Well done, human! Your bond with your pokemon is strong._

I looked to the lake and saw the Milotic floating in the air. The Slowking was peering out of the water as well. "Thanks," I replied. "I'm leaving for now. I have to get my friends to a medical facility."

_You are leaving before you reap any reward for your success?_

"I can always come back. My friends need help first," I responded.

_Your loyalty to your pokemon is admirable. Come back when you can, for the Guardian has chosen to bestow upon you the knowledge that she holds._

I nodded, finished packing, and returned to the sky. I told Azrael to fly as quickly as he could without wearing himself out, and we sped along. Five minutes after we took off, Azrael roared and I looked around. I saw two airborne entities heading towards us, so I drove Azrael to fly faster, thinking that they were hostile pokemon.

Azrael managed to keep ahead of them. He flew as fast as he could until we reached the small pond where we had stopped on our way to the Milotic's lake. Azrael was heaving by that point and I stopped to make camp even though it was afternoon. By the time I had erected my tent, Azrael turned his head to the sky and roared again, immediately assuming a protective stance in front of me.

I released Gilles, Rufus, and Ceto, expecting a fight. I then saw a large Pidgeot and a Fearow descend, with figures on their backs. They did not dive in attack, so I kept my pokemon relaxed, yet ready to fight if they needed to.

When the two large birds landed, their riders leapt from their saddles, released a host of pokemon, and leveled rifles at me. "STAND DOWN! RETURN YOUR POKEMON!" they yelled. My pokemon all tensed in readiness. "STAND DOWN! By the authority of the Ace Trainer Corps, return your pokemon!" one of them ordered.

I faltered and yelled, "Can I see some identification?"

The rider of the Pidgeot took out a small pad which projected a holographic image of the Ace Trainer insignia: A pokeball crossed diagonally with an ACE-emblazoned sash, and with a bundle of arrows in the background, positioned diagonally in the opposite direction than the sash.

I quickly returned my pokemon and raised my hands. "Is there something wrong, officers?" I asked. The Aces kept their rifles leveled at me, but returned some of their pokemon.

"You were caught crossing the Kanto/Johto border, and then you fled," one of them stated as they approached, drawing some handcuffs.

"Sir, I thought your fliers were predators, and since we just finished a tiresome battle with a Snorlax, we are not in any condition to fight an aerial battle," I tried to explain, realizing how unlikely it sounded.

"A Snorlax? Nice one, kid. Explain it to Elite McGall," he said disbelievingly. I sighed and held out my hands in submission to the Aces.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

"So you're telling me that you were training out there near the border and fought a _Snorlax_?" Cain McGall, the psychic elite, asked me.

"Yes, Elite," I responded. "Check the injuries of my pokemon. Check the forest grounds where I fought it."

"I was told by the officers who apprehended you that you evaded them at first, but that they saw you ascend from a large lake. Then you ran from them, but they found you at another lake," he said.

"I honestly did not see them before I landed at the larger lake. I flew away from them because I thought that they predators about to attack us, and we were not strong enough to fight them. We were so far into the wilderness that I didn't expect there to be other people," I explained.

"And you did not meet with anyone from Johto while you were on the other side of the border?" he asked.

"No…" I answered, confused.

The 3rd Elite sighed and said, "I can't tell if you're lying or not, so I have no choice but to administer psychic memory extraction."

"What!?" I exclaimed. "What is so important that you need to get information from me with PME?"

"We don't know if you are an agent for the Johto government," he said, and then released an Alakazam. "Don't resist; it will make this go faster and it will be less painful that way."

My breathing sped up as the Alakazam's eyes started to glow purple. Then, pain erupted in my head. My wrists were handcuffed to the chair, so I could not reach up to hold my head. The Alakazam seemed to furrow its brow before the pain intensified.

"Mr. MacAfee, I suggest you let us in, or this will continue to cause you pain. It is also highly suspicious for you to keep us out," the Elite remarked. The pain continued for another five minutes.

My head felt like it was on fire, but I managed to remember what Dante had told me about how the mind resembled a hole in the ground. If the Alakazam could not see into the pit, then I would throw stuff out of it to make it see. I recalled to the forefront of my memory visions of the training practices that took place in the last two weeks. Then I thought of the Snorlax battle, picturing the events like items being flung out of a well in a bucket.

Miraculously, the Alakazam and the Elite responded. "Amazing… That one of your experience and age should drive away a grown Snorlax without any casualties. The memories are consistent with the injuries sustained by your pokemon and with the memories shared by your Garchomp."

The Elite sighed again. "This is a mess. I still don't know how you are able to resist psychic memory cognizance, but your explanation checks out. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we needed to make sure."

"Make sure of _what_?" I asked, frustrated. My head was still pounding from the memory extraction process.

The Elite scrutinized me intensely. "We needed to make sure you were not working for the Johto government or military. We needed to make sure that you were not crossing the border to deliver intelligence."

"Excuse me, sir, but I did not realize that there was a problem between Johto and Kanto. I thought we were allies on good terms," I said.

"It would appear as such. But… there have been complications," he replied.

"What kind of complications?" I pressed.

The Elite sighed once again and said, "Look, if you promise to keep this to yourself, then I will tell you. You are pretty much wrapped up in all of it as it is. After all, you _did_ serve us up the Meteor executive whose information led to the offensive against their organization."

"Fine. I promise I will treat this confidentially," I swore.

"When you fought the Meteors, didn't you ever wonder how they had acquired weapons which are illegal to possess in Kanto?" asked the Elite. I was silent. I never thought about it. The Meteors were simply criminals to me, and that had been explanation enough. "Well the weapon materials and the designs were traced back to the Johto military," he finished.

My mind was blown. "W-why would Johto supply the Meteors?" I stuttered.

"All intelligence on the matter is classified," he responded sternly. "I gave you more than the general public will receive, so keep your word and there will be no trouble."

I nodded and he motioned towards a one-way glass window. The door to the interrogation room opened and the Ace trainer who had cuffed me released me from the chair. I was given my pokeballs and told that I could leave. Conveniently enough, I had been brought to Pallet Town for questioning, so a Pokemon Center was not too far away.

I immediately checked in and collapsed onto my bed. Thoughts about the day's events consumed my mind, and I could not handle it. The intensity of the Snorlax fight mixed with the knowledge that the Meteors might have been funded by Johto led me to ask Gilles to put me to sleep.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The next morning, I decided that I would return to the Milotic's lake. There, I would continue training for another week and a half before returning home. Unfortunately, Dante and Lazarus would not be able to practice for a few days because their injuries needed to heal.

While I was in Pallet Town, I called my parents and informed them of my intentions to return home. I also restocked on supplies. As I walked through the business district of the particularly large city, I saw that the Pallet Town Pokemon Contest was underway. A large stadium was plastered with posters, and the roar of a crowd could be heard from outside. I caught a glance at one of the posters and saw the picture of a man with a flamboyant haircut and his Flareon. The title on the poster was "Come see the winner of last year's contest Jeremy Schroeder and his magnificent Flareon, Sparklepuss!"

I shook my head at the Flareon's absurd name and continued on, hearing the crowd grow quieter in the distance behind me. After I finished, I left Pallet Town atop Azrael's shoulders, heading southwest. It took me two days to reach the lake, and during that time, I stopped by the smaller lake to retrieve my abandoned supplies. By the time I reached the Milotic's lake, Dante and Lazarus were capable of training.

I made camp and Azrael announced our presence to the lake with a roar. _Was that really necessary? Your presence was known the moment you landed, _I heard in my mind.

"I guess it wasn't," I laughed. The Milotic and the Slowking appeared and met me at the shore. The Milotic came closer to me than ever before, stopping 10 feet away. It looked down on me and I immediately felt more relaxed.

_The Guardian wishes you to know that, since you possess the strength and character worthy of the information, that you should be given it. _I nodded and the Slowking continued. _The Guardian was a witness. A witness of the crowning of a king amongst its species. A king who pledges his loyalty to the man of dragons. What she has to give you is a small bit of knowledge about the coronation, and her own personal commendation should you ever pursue such an honor. _

Realizing that the Milotic was speaking about the Champion's Kingdra made me listen intently to the Slowking's words. _The knowledge is thus: On the eve of the Spring Equinox, appeals for supremacy can be made to the one true elemental divinity of water. If you wish to learn more, perform more grand acts of service and devote yourself to the balance of human and pokemon life. The more commendations you garner, the worthier your petition. As of now, you may claim the commendation of Thyworess Nia Soendrad. Hold out your arm to receive this honor._

I did so, entranced by the information. My hand extended upwards and the Milotic touched her forehead to it. A square mark of swirling water appeared, about an inch long, on the underside of my forearm, directly below the elbow joint. It glowed blue and then disappeared.

_The Guardian thanks you for your service to her and wishes you luck in the rest of your travels. From now on, you will always be welcomed at Lake Soendrad. _

Thank you very much," I said, bowing my head to the Milotic. She gave me a wave of joyful emotion before plunging herself into the heart of the lake. I was left there, my mind aflutter with fascination, joy, and mystification. I allowed it to take hold of me as I resumed training with my pokemon, picking up exactly where I had left off.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Viridian City loomed on the horizon in front of me. The thought that I was coming full circle unleashed a host of emotions in my mind. I felt happy and proud, for I was about to be able to say that I had walked the entirety of the League circuit. But at the same time, I was slightly sad because I knew that a chapter of my life was drawing to a close. I would need to make a choice about what I wanted to pursue after defeating all eight badges in the Indigo League. I also felt fairly nostalgic, for I was returning home, where my parents would be happy to see me.

I entered the southern suburbs of Viridian City five days before my plane was scheduled to leave Kanto. I walked in from Route 1 with Rufus and Dante by my side, and I inhaled a deep breath of pine-scented air. The air was euphoric and I briefly felt compelled to skip the rest of the way home, though I easily quelled that ridiculous impulse.

On my way, I passed by a group of late teenagers. "Dude, look at that guy! Ever bathe?" one of them commented.

I stopped as Rufus bared his teeth at the boy. I also noticed Dante's blades extended. "Hey buddy, not a good idea," I said to him.

"Whoa whoa, dude. Chill. Calm your pets," he said, and Rufus responded by growling loudly and letting some fire lick at his lips. The boy's interaction with me and my pokemon drew the attention of his friends, and they all looked at me.

"They. Are not. Pets. _Dude_. Once again, not a good idea, buddy," I said, growing livid very quickly.

"Yo, Benny, that's Zachariah. I saw him on LeagueWatch," said one of the guys beside him. Three or four of the people in the group including the so-named "Benny" looked at him in surprised mockery. The boy looked away in embarrassment and said, "What? I like to watch pokemon battling. And that," he said, pointing to me, "is last year's junior champion. He's also gone undefeated so far in the League."

I was still glaring at Benny when he looked back at me and my pokemon. "You see that Gallade, there?" the kid observed. "His name is Dante and his blades can cut through fucking steel. He and his pokemon are brutal, man, so you don't want to mess with him."

I noticed Benny's eyes widen very slightly as the other boy gushed. "…Well, uh, sorry for that," Benny said reluctantly. "Let's get to Don's now. We should have been there an hour ago, anyway," he said to the others.

"Yeah, you get to that," I said mockingly, and the group of teens walked off. The kid who recognized me gave me a last look with a smile and a thumbs-up, and then turned to join his friends.

_That Yeshku knows my name… _Dante said in my head. His blades were retracted and he was looking somewhat bashful.

"I was thinking the same thing, Dante. I guess if I was getting famous, then it is only natural then that you guys would be, too," I reasoned. Dante nodded, still humbled. Rufus, on the other hand, looked angry and jealous. "Don't worry, Rufus, I bet plenty of people know your name!" I said, reassuring him, but he only groaned in response. "Oh, don't be like that, Rufus. We all know that you are just as deserving of fame as any of us."

Rufus seemed to settle down a bit, albeit begrudgingly. But before we made it to my parents' house, I was stopped six more times by random people who recognized me. They would say things like, "Legendaries! It's Zachariah MacAfee! And that's Rufus and Dante!" Needless to say, it did not take long for Rufus to cheer up.

I arrived at my parent's house in the late afternoon. I was received with open arms and radiant smiles by both of my parents. Frieda and Pako, the Torchic and Numel respectively, also greeted me with shows of affection. I was ushered inside the house to find many boxes lying around. It looked like my parents were in the middle of moving.

My parents led me to the living room, where we settled on the couches. Rufus sat next to my father, who scratched the top of his head, and Dante simply sat cross-legged on the floor next to the couch I was sitting on. The Numel was curled up next to my mother, who sat beside my father, and the Torchic was nestled in a bundle of blankets on top of the couch, which resembled a nest.

My father started the conversation with the required, "So, Zach, how has training been?" question.

"It's been good. You never know how many problems trainers run into, though," I said, remembering the Meteor incidents and my arrest by the Ace trainers.

"Tell us about it!" my parents said enthusiastically.

"Well…" I said, thinking about what I wanted to reveal. "Now don't freak out, but I might have fought a… Snorlax…"

"….You WHAT?!" exclaimed my parents in tandem. "Like… an _actual _Snorlax?" my mother asked.

"Yes, an actual Snorlax," I replied. "And believe me, it's not something I want to experience again anytime soon. Dante had his arm broken and Lazarus broke five ribs," I said. Dante peered at his elbow when he heard what I said, a motion my parents did not fail to notice.

"Legendaries…" my mother said, looking crestfallen.

"How about you tell us about more reassuring aspects of your training?" offered my father, looking disturbed.

"What's more reassuring than knowing that I drove away a Snorlax?" I asked, feeling a little playful at my parents' expense.

"I don't want to hear about you fighting creatures that are known for killing people. At least you didn't get any scars this time," my father replied, looking at the blemishes running down my face.

"Agreed. Tell us instead how you found Lazarus," my mother said.

"Yes," commented my father. "And I can't wait to meet him."

I involuntarily shuddered at the memory of Lazarus's previous trainer's demise. My parents noticed and raised their eyebrows in confusion. "It's, uh, not really a great story. Let's just say that we rescued him."

"Hmm, fair enough," said my father.

"Is there anything _good _you can tell us about your training?" my mother asked.

"Well, when I was on Cinnabar Island, I trained in the Smoky Mountains, and that was interesting," I told them.

"On that note, that gym leader really shouldn't make you fight in those conditions," my mother said sternly. "That is not healthy for you."

"Well, it's not supposed to be easy," I responded.

"Yes, but what if you had asthma? What if you had a heat stroke?" my mother pressed.

"The gym officials are good at dealing with the hazards of the gym. Besides, training isn't for the faint of heart," I said.

"That's beside the point, Zachariah," my mother said, frustrated, but my father put a hand on her leg. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments.

"Anyway," I said. "I caught a few Magcargo, a Magmar, and a Charmeleon."

My father's eyes went wide when he heard that. "A Charmeleon?" Then he leaned forward, and said, "What do you plan to do with it?"

"I actually don't know yet. I could sell her for a lot or I could train her. At the moment, I'm keeping her in long-term storage until I figure that out," I responded sincerely.

"I think that is wise," my father said.

"So you caught some Magcargo?" my mother asked. I nodded and she asked, "I'm assuming you are going to sell them?" I nodded again. "Well, I personally like them. We could sell all but one and pay for a chef to prepare the last one."

"Sure, I guess," I replied, having never tried them before. She seemed happy at that, and I guess it was not difficult to imagine why. Back when my parents were very wealthy, my mother could afford to eat such delicacies as Magcargo, and now eating Magcargo would be like reliving the lifestyle that she was forced to abandon.

"So I've been thinking. I caught a Tauros last year and I would like to keep it at the preserve. I will also sell the Magmar," I continued.

"I was actually going to suggest that we take a trip out there tomorrow," said my father. "That way, I can show you what's going on there. As for your Tauros, there's plenty of room for it. Do you have any particular use for him?"

"I'm not sure about him, either. I could keep him there until I want to feed him to my team. Or I could breed him with others for the same purpose. Either way, I don't intend to use him on my team, and he will probably be used as cattle anyway unless I release him," I replied.

"Hmm. There is plenty of room at the preserve for him so we can at least keep him there until you make a decision."

I thanked my father and said, "So I noticed all the boxes lying around. What's that about?"

"That's one thing I want to show you tomorrow," my father said with a wink.

"Alright, then. How have you both been, anyway?" I asked.

"We've been doing great!" my father responded and put an arm around my mother's shoulders. "Your mother has helped me with the stallions and with the foundation of a new business.

"Yep! Turns out I'm pretty good with the horses," my mother added.

"That's great!" I said.

My father nodded with a smile and rubbed up and down Rufus's nick, causing his leg to shake. After a short pause, my father leaned in with a sly grin.

"By the way, how are you and that Hoenn girl, Sheila, doing?" he asked.

"Oh, actually… One of the reasons why I'm in Viridian City so early is that she bought me a plane ticket to come see her challenge the last gym in Hoenn," I told them, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"Really?" my mother asked with a smile. "When is that?"

"On Thursday," I replied.

My parents were surprised to hear that and immediately looked saddened. "You're leaving so soon?" my mother asked.

"I'll be back before you know it. I'll be in training when I get back for the Viridian City Gym, and then I'll be staying home for a bit."

That seemed to placate my parents. "So Sheila bought you a plane ticket to Hoenn, then? That can't have been cheap," observed my father.

"Her father is a gym leader in a country where gym leaders are national executives, so I'm guessing a plane ticket was not too difficult to come by," I said defensively. "What are you implying?"

"Oh nothing," my father said with a laugh.

"She seems like a nice girl," my mother said, and my father agreed.

"Yeah, she is," I said. "Anyway, what's for dinner?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Nice dodge, Zach," said my father, grinning. "But actually, I _am_ getting hungry. How does Shellder Alfredo sound?"

"That sounds great!" I said enthusiastically, and we all moved to the kitchen.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The next day, my father took me out to the preserve. The building where the PokeWall panel was housed had been updated with higher security features, and outside of the building was a sign that read "MacAfees' Infernal Competitors." The hole in the fence had been repaired and everything looked like new.

The next thing that caught my attention was the sounds of construction. A house was being built several hundred feet from the gated entrance to the preserve by a full constructions crew. "So this is why there are so many boxes in the house," I said to my parents.

"Yes. We are constructing a new house out here so that we can be close to our business. Plus, there is more room for your pokemon to roam whenever you come home," my father answered.

"That is great!" I exclaimed. "When will it be finished?"

"Probably in another month," my mother said. "Settling in might take a little longer, though."

My parents then took me inside of the fence and showed me the many different stables. I noticed that there were many more horses than I had provided, and I voiced that observation. "We currently have 25 Ponyta and 10 Rapidash, and most of them do not belong to us," my father replied, causing me to drop my jaw in astonishment. "13 Ponyta and seven Rapidash are here for boarding. Five Ponyta and two Rapidash are here to be broken. It took me several weeks to break all of the Ponyta you sent me and damn near a month to break that Rapidash, but when I did, people started asking if I could do the same for their steeds. Naturally, I agreed to, but at a price. The closest reliable rancher is in Saffron City, so I'm getting a lot of business."

"That's brilliant!" I said. "I knew you could do it!"

"Your father just needed to remember what he was passionate about. Once he started working with the stallions again, his confidence returned and now he thinks he can do anything," my mother said with a laugh.

I had definitely noticed that my parents were much, much happier than I had seen them in a long time. For one thing, in the five days I spent at home before I left for Hoenn, not one word was spoken about me pursuing a different career. They also smiled much more than I had remembered seeing in the last couple of years.

Next, my parents showed me an electronic schematic of the preserve's territory, where several lines indicated that smaller fences were being built to divide the preserve into different sections. Also on the schematic were glowing blue dots wherever a contained pokemon was located. My father told me that I could keep the Tauros in the section with my other captured grazing pokemon, and that a large forested section was being created to house Houndoom.

The fences on the inside did not need to be the same as the preserve walls, so they were much cheaper. But building the house must have cost a lot, so I voiced my concerns on the matter. My father responded, "It took us a while to collect much of the insurance on the Fire Grounds, and we've brought in a lot of money with boarding and breaking.

"What are you doing about Kira's old den?" I asked.

"We're filling it in down to a certain depth so that cave-ins can be avoided," he responded.

I was a little crestfallen to hear that, but I supposed that it was necessary. Azrael would probably not like it, but he could always create a new entrance for himself later on. I even threw around the idea in my head that Azrael could dig a burrow from under the house to the reserve, but I figured that it would create more problems.

All in all, I was impressed by the amount of progress that had been made at the preserve. For once in a long time, I felt hopeful that we could recover from the events of almost two years ago. For once in a long time, I was happy to be home. But in the back of my mind, I knew that something very bad was brewing far away, and that my duty would ultimately be to fight it.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

Lazarus – Electabuzz

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Author's Note: Hey everyone. Didn't think just because the Meteors are gone that everything would be alright, did you? Can it be that things are more complex than they appear? Find out more in chapters to come! Anyway, fun stuff in this chapter. Feel free to comment on what you liked or what you wanted to see more of. The reviews are always appreciated. See you next chapter!


	23. Chapter 23: Hoenn

Chapter 23

My first time on an international flight was not particularly relaxing for me. While sitting in an aisle seat, I could not help but hyperventilate for most of the time. I was incredibly uneasy about not being in control or having a trusted pokemon at my side to protect me.

I traveled light. I brought with me a duffle bag with some old clothes, and I carried a metal container in which my pokeballs were locked, courtesy of Indigo Airlines. They were locked away to keep people from releasing pokemon inside the airplane, which could create significant problems. And I brought a small gift for Sheila to show my appreciation for the plane ticket. It was a small silver chibi Garchomp charm that could hang from her PokeDex. While it was not much, I figured that it was personal enough to at least show Sheila that I was grateful.

Needless to say, I did not enjoy the flight. Even though my pokemon were nearby, they were locked away from me. The comfort that they could have offered me was out of my reach, and I was forced to sit in my chair, sweating for seven hours. The relief I felt when we landed was more intense than when I had arrived at the end of Route 21. At least jetlag had not kicked in, since the local time was four hours earlier than Kanto.

My relief was quickly replaced with a rush of euphoria as I walked past the security checkpoint and customs, and saw Sheila waiting for me next to her sister, Elaina. I noticed immediately that she was wearing the necklace I had given her for her birthday. As soon as she saw me, she ran over and gave me a hug. I held her for a few moments, noticing Elaina watching us with a smirk, and then Sheila stepped back and gave me a smile.

"How was your flight?" she asked.

"…Stressful," I said sickly, shuddering.

"Stressful? Have you never been on a plane before?" she asked.

"Not for that long," I said, still shuddering.

"Huh. So a guy who rides dragons and fights with ghosts is afraid of a little plane ride?" she asked cheekily.

"Ha. Ha," I responded sarcastically. "Where can I get a drink of water?"

Sheila laughed and led me to a vending machine, passing by Elaina who joined us. She greeted me and I acknowledged her before Sheila swiped a card through the vending machine and retrieved two bottles of water. Even though the currency is different in Hoenn than it is in Kanto, people can use credit cards to pay for most things in different nations. All a trainer needs to do is contact his or her bank and ask them to convert an amount of money to the currency that he or she needs, and the money will be available for use on the trainer's card. To make such transactions even more efficient and convenient, contacting the bank is as easy as using a PokeDex app.

Conversely, any money that a trainer earns in another country can be converted to the trainer's home currency just as easily on the same PokeDex app. In that way, training in other countries has become more fiscally convenient than ever.

I drained the bottle of water that Sheila gave me in one long uninterrupted series of gulps. The water helped, but I was still anxious so I hurried to the pokeball retrieval desk. Within half an hour, my pokeballs were released from the metal box and returned to me, allowing me to reestablish some of my composure.

"So," I declared. "Where to?"

Sheila and Elaina smiled, and Sheila replied, "Well it's almost noon now, so how about some lunch? We could also get some coffee or something while we eat, if you need it."

"That sounds like a great idea," I responded, feeling my stomach growl a bit. As soon as I stepped outside of the airport, I was hit with a wave of warm and humid air which was uncharacteristic of February weather.

"W-wow," I stuttered, caught off guard by the temperature.

"Yeah, we are in the tropics, dontcha know?" Sheila said amusedly.

"No kidding," I murmured. The amount of green foliage around was the first thing I noticed. It was much like Leader Buell's gym, except that the shades of green were much brighter and more radiant. People were bustling around, just like in the cities of Kanto, but I noticed that they all talked with the same distinct accent as Sheila. Now, I felt like the odd one out.

I released Rufus to walk beside me for comfort. Seeing that, Sheila released Kara, her starter, and Elaina released Joey, her Floatzel. I was taken aback because Kara was no longer a Roselia. She had evolved into a Roserade. Kara now stood almost four feet tall, had a dark green mask covering the top half of her face, and held large bouquets of red and pink flowers. Her form was slender and she almost looked like a fairy.

"Wow, look at you, Kara," I observed. "You look amazing!"

Kara gave me a nod and a smile, and then Sheila said, "She really is amazing! She's so much stronger since she evolved!" Sheila's good cheer seemed to infect me, and I was already recovering from my plane sickness.

Sheila, Elaina, and I all walked and chatted for a while until we came to a restaurant by the name of Barboach Café. Apparently, Elaina had also come back to Hoenn to watch Sheila challenge, but her husband had stayed in Kanto for work. It was like a reunion for Sheila's family, but all of the attention was focused on Sheila, which, according to Elaina, was how Sheila liked it.

The Barboach Café was a simple establishment with half of its seating arranged outside. The architecture of the building, and most of the others for that matter, was not much different than the buildings in Kanto, aside from the material with which it was built.

We sat down at an outside table because the weather was so nice. While we ordered some sandwiches, I saw people staring at us with smiles. Someone even came by and said to Sheila, "Good luck on your battle!"

"So, I'll assume that you beat the gym trainer with no problem?" I asked Sheila.

"Well the gym _is _a water-type gym," she responded.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Didn't I tell you that I'mspecializing in grass pokemon?" she asked back.

"No. Specializing?" I asked.

"Yep!" she replied. "I have a few of 'em."

"It's really been a while since I've seen you fight," I said, realizing that I knew nothing about Sheila's team apart from what I learned at the JIC.

"Well you're in for a great time, then," piped in Elaina. "Sheila knows what she's doing!" Sheila only smiled at her sister in response.

"So when _is _your battle, Sheila?" I asked.

"The day after tomorrow," She replied. "After that, we are heading back to Mauville City. Then we have three days at home before we need to go to the airport. As long as you're here, you can stay with us at my parents' house," she continued. "I told my dad about you so he knows you'll be here, and we have a room for you. Until then, we can stay at a Pokemon Center."

"Thank you," I said. Then, I remembered the gift that I had brought for Sheila and said, "I know it's not much, but I wanted to show that I appreciate you getting me a ticket to come see you." As I said it, I withdrew the Garchomp charm and presented it to her.

Sheila's smile grew and she took the charm from me, thanking me in the process. She giggled when she looked at the overgrown and over-cute face of the dragon charm and said, "Oh if only Azrael looked this way in real life…"

"Haha, then no one would ever take him seriously," I said.

"But it would be so cute!" Sheila continued. "Thank you, Zach." I nodded in acknowledgement and she said, "I also have something for you – a late birthday present."

"Another present for me? You already bought me a ticket to come see you!" I exclaimed.

"That was just me being selfish. I wanted you to come see my battle, so I brought you up here for me. Though I'm flattered that you think I did it for you." I blushed a deep red when she said that. "Here's your birthday present." She presented me with a small disk labeled _Solar Beam_.

"This is… a-amazing!" I stammered. "And expensive!"

"Not for me!" she replied enthusiastically. "My sister's husband, remember? Also, I know that Kanto's last gym is ground-based, so this might give Rufus something to counter his weakness to ground. And also, I like grass types so it all works well."

"Th-thank you!" I stammered. Little did she or I know at the time, she had just given me one of the most effective, well-rounding techniques that Rufus could have learned from a TM.

"You are both too cute!" Elaina remarked. Both Sheila and I glowed red in embarrassment, resulting in a bout of laughter from her. "Can't wait til daddy meets him."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Oh, no reason," she responded aloofly.

Our food arrived before I could pursue an answer from Elaina. I had a simple club sandwich while both Sheila and her sister had a panini. After we finished, Sheila and her sister showed me around. Sootopolis City was very hilly with countless staircases leading to different terraces where the city had been built. Just walking around was a workout.

Sheila and Elaina explained to me that Sootopolis City was built in the crater of an ancient meteor, and that it is a hotbed for a major Hoenn religion: The Brotherhood of Earth and Water. They told me that the Brotherhood of Earth and Water is a descendent organization from two terroristic groups that attempted to delve into the mysteries of legend to change the geographic makeup of the world with the help of one of two legendary creatures.

One of the groups was Team Magma and the other was Team Aqua. Team Magma attempted to find and harness the power of the legendary Groudon to create more land mass throughout the globe. Team Aqua attempted to find and harness the power of the legendary Kyogre to expand the oceans around the globe. The two groups fought with each other and pulled the entire country of Hoenn into their conflict, but before they could find the legendary pokemon, they were both stopped by a trainer who later became the Champion of Hoenn.

The two groups merged under the supervision of the League and now have a more peaceful message to send. Now, the religion cares about balance, worshipping both of the original legendary pokemon whom the two groups used to worship. Hearing about the legendary water pokemon revered by the religion made me wonder if it was the divine water pokemon referred to by the Milotic.

The tour of the city lasted for a few hours, during which time I saw many interesting things such as a church for the Brotherhood of Earth and Water, surfboarders on the beach, posters advertising Sheila's gym battle, and the entrance to the fabled Cave of Origin.

At the church for the Brotherhood of Earth and Water, I heard a man preaching. He declared, "The powers of earth and water hold the world in balance! Without that balance, either water would engulf our world or drought would suck it dry! Help us to appease the great legends of both so that the world will remain habitable! Accept this responsibility, for there is no higher cause than keeping the world in balance!"

I could not help but feel that the religion sounded elitist and conceited. When I relayed my thoughts to Sheila and Elaina, they only laughed, which suggested to me that they agreed.

The Cave of Origin was a sight to behold. It is a highly defended and restricted place which holds many legends far and wide. Some legends say that the very origin of pokemon resides in the depths of the caves. Some say that, since both Team Magma and Team Aqua were so interested in the cave, that Groudon, Kyogre, or both reside in the depths of the cave. Some say that it just a very dangerous cave system, not unlike the Cerulean Cave system in Kanto.

We passed by the entrance of the Cave of Origin, which was blocked by an enormous stone door, and in front of which were stationed several Hoenn Ace trainers. An Alakazam sat on the ground behind all of them, its eyes glowing orange as it mentally scanned the area for any potential threats. When I passed by with Rufus at my side, the Alakazam's eyes glowed brighter and two of the Ace trainers immediately eyed me warily.

We hurried at that point and continued with our tour of the city afterwards. Later that day, Sheila received a message from her father telling her that he and her mother were arriving soon, and to meet them at the Pokemon Center. We made our way to the PokeCenter and waited for her parents to arrive, and during that time, I began to feel the effects of jetlag. I started to feel tired, and by the time her parents walked through the front doors, I wanted nothing more than to go to bed.

When Sheila's father walked through the front door, Sheila jumped up to greet him. He was a large man with broad shoulders, blonde hair, hazel eyes, stubble about his chin, and muscular forearms. He was not as large as Aoro, but he was still much larger than I. Beside him walked a Jolteon.

Sheila's mother followed behind him. She was much shorter than him, had brown hair like Sheila, green eyes, and freckles. Sheila hugged both of them, and then a boy walked into the Pokemon Center and stopped at their side. I was very tired, so I did not catch much of the interaction between them. However, I saw Sheila look at him, exclaim, "Jeremy!?" and then look at her father.

Sheila's father shrugged and said, "What? I figured he would want to see your battle."

Elaina let out a little squeal and clapped her hands quietly, yet excitedly. "Oooh hoo! This is going to be so much fun!"

Jeremy said something low enough that I could not hear, and then Sheila turned and walked over to me. Her parents' attention shifted to me as she said, "This is Zachariah. Zachariah, this is my dad, Leader Jason Farris, and my mom, Sharon Farris." I noticed that Sheila did not introduce the so-called Jeremy to me.

While she introduced me to them, Mr. Farris walked up to me and extended his hand, which I readily shook. His grip was strong and I immediately felt my hair tingle as if being affected by static electricity. I saw his eyes pass over my facial scar as he released my hand. I shook Mrs. Farris's hand next, flinching as I received a small shock from her hand. She did not flinch, though, as if she had been ready for it, or simply used to it.

"Ah, _the _Zachariah…" Mr. Farris commented in the same deep Hoennese accent which Sheila used. "I've heard a lot about you; Sheila's little Kanto boy. Welcome to Hoenn."

"Thank you, sir. I hope that all you've heard is good," I responded, and he only smirked in response.

"Hello, Zachariah," greeted Mrs. Farris with a smile, also looking at my scar. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, ma'am," I responded.

Jeremy seemed to hold himself higher in stature and he strutted over to me. "Jeremy Biggs," he said, holding a hand out to me and jutting his chest forward to show six badges.

"Zachariah MacAfee," I replied, taking his hand and scoffing inwardly.

"Interesting accent, MacAfee," he responded. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I'm from Kanto."

"Kanto, huh? That's too bad," he said jokingly.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Well, because it's not _Hoenn_," he replied, still smiling haughtily.

I could not tell if he was being serious or if he just had a bad sense of humor. Either way, I only smiled and said, "Okay, then," before turning my attention to Sheila, who was talking to her father. "I think I could use that coffee, now."

"How about some dinner, then?" the gym leader asked.

"Great!" exclaimed Elaina, as enthusiastic as ever.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

_Belladonna's_ was possibly the finest restaurant in Sootopolis. It hosted exquisite food, top-of-the-line service, and elegant culture. For the lattermost reason, I felt horribly underdressed. Being from a wealthy background, I was learned in elite social etiquette, and I was therefore acutely aware of my appearance.

I had not expected to need very nice clothes, so I did not bring any. The classiest garments I could muster were nice jeans and a collared shirt, and those elicited a few looks of disapproval from the more fancily-dressed patrons. Luckily for me, I made up for my lackluster appearance by adhering to the strict social protocol for fine dining that my parents had taught me. But even though I displayed the most refined adherence to those dining customs, I still drew a modicum of attention to myself, for those customs were of Kanto; not Hoenn.

Kanto's conventions on dining etiquette were different than those of Hoenn – the differences tended to be subtle – but I knew enough to show that I was no stranger to complex customs. I held myself as I should, I used the proper utensils when there were literally tens of them to choose from, I ate my meals without making a mess, and I regarded my company respectfully and with decorum.

What I did not grasp was the cultural meaning behind each procedure and the traditional alternate-language discourses that accompanied some of them. I would even make traditional Kantoan gestures that were not recognized by Hoenn, which ended up embarrassing me when I received confused stares. One such gesture is the placement of silverware on the plate after finishing a course of meal, which happened to be opposite of how Hoenn convention dealt with used utensils.

Our meal consisted of five courses: a Cloyster meat appetizer, a salad, filet of Seaking, filet mignon, and then pudding. Each course was served with a complementary wine, and it was all delicious. Despite my lack of knowledge about Hoenn's rules of conduct, I believe that I impressed Sheila's family. Even more so, the boy named Jeremy seemed annoyed whenever Sheila's parents would point out my sensitivity towards proper conduct.

I still did not know who the boy was, but Sheila seemed to be ignoring him for the most part. However, Elaina looked like she was enjoying the interaction, or lack thereof, between them. I would catch her sending sly smiles towards Sheila or Jeremy while their attention was focused on other conversations.

Due to the delightfulness of the meals, it was hardly difficult to remain awake in spite of my growing tiredness. Most of the conversations revolved around Sheila and her upcoming battle, and I was conveniently left out of the spotlight. My guess was that Sheila was the center of attention since she was the reason for everyone being there.

It was nearing 11 o'clock when we finally concluded the meal. I did not see the bill, but I had no doubt that it was very expensive. I thanked Sheila's parents and they graciously accepted my thanks, albeit with a subtle air of patronization. After we left, they dropped Sheila, Jeremy, and I off at the Pokemon Center.

I ended up walking in the middle because Sheila chose the side of me opposite to Jeremy. Before we reached the rooms, Jeremy said, "So tomorrow's the day before your match. If you'd like I can help you prepare."

Sheila scoffed. I took that as a chance to say, "It's okay. I can help her just fine."

"I'm sure you mean well, but this is a _Hoenn_ gym. She would benefit more from a _Hoenn_ partner," he responded defensively.

"A gym is a gym, regardless of where it is," I retorted, growing irritated. "Besides, I think I can offer more as a training partner."

"Oh is _that _so!?" he responded, insulted. "Well, outsider, maybe we should settle who-"

"I don't need _either _of you to help!" Sheila exclaimed exasperatedly, cutting him off. "Just stop fighting like Mankey over a juicy Caterpie." She turned to Jeremy and addressed him for the first time that night. "Jeremy, I honestly don't know what you're expecting by showing up, but acting like a xenophobic ass is not going to win you any good will from me." Then she turned to me and said, "Zachariah, please try to reign in your temper and competitiveness. I don't need you getting into a fight and making a scene."

Jeremy and I fell silent under her chastisement. We awkwardly walked through the PokeCenter and when we reached the hallway connecting the lounge to the rooms, Sheila said to us, "I'll see you here tomorrow night. I'm leaving tomorrow morning to train _alone_. Goodnight." She then left us and entered her room. Jeremy and I gave each other one last ugly look before we separated.

Ten minutes later I had changed into the PokeCenter sweats, released Gilles, and was about to crawl into bed when I received a message.

_Hey Zach, meet me in the activity room. –Sheila_

As soon as I read the message, I put the gratis slippers on and rushed out of my room. I arrived in the underground activity center minutes later. Sheila was lying in the grass and her Roserade was dancing around her. When she saw me arrive, she stood up and smiled. She started walking to me, but stopped with a look of horror on her face as Gilles appeared with a shriek right beside her.

"Good gods, Gilles! Argh!" she yelled at him. Gilles, of course, laughed his shadowy ass off and I couldn't help but chuckle as well. "Don't you encourage him!" she fired at me.

"Sorry, sorry. Couldn't help it," I said, trying to stifle my fit of laughter. "At least I'm laughing instead of trying to start a fight, huh." I said facetiously, though not bitterly.

"Ha. Ha. Alright, sorry about that," she said as she approached me. "It was a bit annoying to hear you two argue, and also a little cute to be honest. But trust me, you don't _need _to prove anything to me," she said before she brought my face to hers and kissed me, sending my heart pounding.

We parted after a time, though Sheila kept her arms around my neck and I kept my arms around her waist, and I asked, "So who is Jeremy anyway?"

Sheila's face reddened slightly, she unclasped her hands from around my neck, and looked down to the side. "He's my ex-boyfriend…"

"Oh?" I said, feeling a mixture of jealousy and confusion. "He's pretty cozy with your family for someone who used to date you. Aren't breakups supposed to be a little more… I don't know… messy?"

"Well I dated him for about four years before I broke up with him to join the League. My parents always liked him, so when I broke up with him somewhat congenially, my parents didn't harbor any ill-will towards him," she explained.

"Somewhat congenially?" I asked skeptically.

"I mean, I didn't want to break up with him for bad reasons, really," she explained some more. "I was just interested in something else other than what he was capable of offering me. It took me a few years to figure out, and when I told him I wanted to break it off, he was pretty confused and understandably hurt. I mean, I was hurt too because we had spent a long time together, but at least I was willing to move on whereas he just kept trying to get back with me. He even started training instead of pursuing a college degree like he was planning to do in order to follow me. You gotta admire it though; he's done fairly well for someone who didn't really want to train in the first place. But no matter what I do, he seems to think that we will get back together eventually. Of course, my parents don't help him move on, as we saw today."

"Great. So you've got a stalker, haha," I said with a laugh. "Looks like we have something else in common, though yours isn't trying to kill you."

"Ahahaha, don't compare Jeremy to a malevolent ghost," she said. "He's just misguided and thickheaded. And, again, you have nothing to worry about. I think my parents liked you today, and my dad especially doesn't lighten up to non-Hoenn people very easily."

"That sounds a bit bigoted to me… Maybe that's why he likes Jeremy so much," I said bitterly.

"Don't be mad, Zach. People in Hoenn are naturally very leery of strangers. And it doesn't help that the current Champion is trying to fill our nation's heads with delusions of superiority. Our Elite Four follow his example and the gym leaders have no choice but to do so as well. It only makes people's suspicious nature worse," said Sheila regretfully.

"I thought you told me that every League official was a politician. Can't the gym leaders change that mentality if they wanted to?" I asked.

"Ultimately, the Champion has the final say in matters. He's like a monarch. Granted, if every gym leader and Elite were to oppose his decisions, he would be forced to change them. But the problem is that many of them do hold the same opinions as he does," she explained.

"That makes for pretty grim job prospects for exceptional trainers," I commented.

"You're telling me," Sheila replied. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to stop talking about unpleasant things. I've missed you." She smiled and kissed me again.

"I've missed you, too," I said when we broke the kiss. "So you're training alone tomorrow, then?"

"Unfortunately, I was not exaggerating about that," she said. "Don't be offended, though. I need to have the time with my team alone. I'm sure you understand."

"I guess," I responded, understanding it perfectly. "But what am I supposed to do tomorrow?"

"What do you think?" she said with a laugh. "Do what you want to do! If you want to leave the city and train on one of the outlying islands, do that. If you want to wander around aimlessly for the whole day, do that. Hell, if you want to sit at a café all day and eat donuts, do that! Whatever you want, haha."

I laughed as well. "Where are _you _going?"

"Uh uh," she said, wagging a finger. "Not telling."

"Fine," I said, conceding defeat. "I'll probably end up training. You're not the only one about to earn your last badge, after all."

"True, but I'm getting mine first!" she said with a smile and then kissed me again.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I woke up early in an attempt to follow Sheila, but she had still managed to leave earlier. Thwarted, I decided to eat a quick meal and then fly out to the closest islands to train. But before I could leave, Jeremy decided to show up.

"Well look who's up early," he commented. "Trying to catch Sheila before she left to follow her like a Growlithe puppy?"

"You're one to talk, stalker," I retorted resentfully. He was right… But I was grouchy and did not have to take his abuse.

Jeremy's face turned bright red and he said angrily, "What would _you _know, _Kantoan_!? You should show a little more respect to someone with six badges."

"I know that you have separation issues," I fired back. "And what are _you _going to do? Do you not know who I am?"

"You're Sheila's little friend whom she wants to watch her fight. Probably some wimp whom she had to save from being eaten," he cried back aggressively, pointing at the scar on my face.

"That's ENOUGH!" a loud voice erupted beside us. A large angry Nurse Joy was glaring at us. "If you want to argue, take it somewhere else!"

Jeremy and I flinched under her scolding, but Jeremey recovered and lifted his nose into the air, saying, "No need. I'm better than this anyway." He then strutted away, leaving me fuming.

Before I could leave the Pokemon Center, I was once again waylaid; this time by a message on my PokeDex.

_Zachariah, would you stop by the Hilltop Hotel before you go anywhere? Daddy wants to have a word with you ;) –Elaina_

I sighed. Training would need to wait. I felt my heart beat slightly faster as my anxiety rose. I did not know what he wanted to talk about, but I had a feeling that it had something to do with Sheila.

I arrived ten minutes later at the lavish hotel to find Sheila's parents having a small breakfast with coffee. Sheila's father was reading a newspaper while his wife was reading on a tablet, but they both stopped once I walked over to their table.

"Ah, Zachariah. Good morning. Have a seat," Sheila's father motioned me to sit in the empty seat on the opposite side of the round table. I sat down hesitantly.

"Good morning to you as well, sir. And you, ma'am," I said. "Elaina said you wanted to speak with me?"

"Straight to the point? This is more like what I expected from a trainer," he observed. "So you're the junior Kanto champion that my daughter has taken a fancy towards. I must say that I was surprised by your fine conduct at dinner last night. Sheila mentioned your affluent roots, but I did not expect you - a young trainer mind you - to actually exercise those customs."

I remained silent, not knowing how to respond. There was a brief pause as Mr. Farris scrutinized me. "Tell me, Zachariah, how do you feel about Sheila?" Mrs. Farris asked.

"Well…" I said nervously. "She's been the best friend to me that I've made since I joined the League. She's helped me and my pokemon grow stronger physically and maybe even morally... I like her very much."

"Well I'm glad you don't see her as merely a means to make your team stronger," Mr. Farris said. "And I will say that ever since Sheila returned from Kanto to continue her native circuit, I've noticed her reacting differently to situations in which she normally would have acted a certain way. It made it much easier for me to train her."

I allowed a smile to spread across my face. I felt that her father was giving me his approval. "However… I know what it can take to change someone into a true fighter. And even though Sheila is much better off with a more serious outlook on life, she is still and always will be my baby girl. Do you understand me?"

My smile faded and I nodded. "Tell me, how did you receive that scar on your face?" he followed up.

I cleared my voice as it cracked. "Sheila, myself, and another trainer were training off the designated routes and we were ambushed at night by a pride of Luxio. I was attacked by a Luxray. If it weren't for Sheila's Gardevoir, who happened to evolve that night, I probably would not have survived."

"You say Shade saved you?" Mrs. Farris asked.

"Well, Shade and Chris's Zoroark, actually. But it was Shade who stopped the Luxray from continuing its work on my face. If I remember correctly, Shade evolved and then threw it off of me. Then the Zoroark made it think I was a log, which it carried off."

"So Shade evolved to save you…" thought Sheila's mother, holding her hand to her chin.

"I guess so," I responded.

"Interesting," said Mr. Farris. "You decided to train off-route. Why?"

"Because it was more of a challenge than simply battling our way down the route. It forced us to become cognizant of the different territorial markers and to become more skilled in a way that the route could not allow us," I explained.

"I think I can understand what Sheila sees in you. You are definitely crazier than the average trainer," Mrs. Farris said. "But, Sheila told us that you have an unbeaten gym record and not many trainers can claim that." There was another pause.

"The last time we tried to restrict Sheila's choices, she threw it back in our faces and forced us to accept what she wanted," declared Mrs. Farris.

"Which is why if she wants to entrust you with her emotional well-being," Mr. Farris continued, "then you need to ensure that she has not misplaced her trust." Mr. Farris leaned forward on the table, putting his hands together. "You need to understand that we don't take kindly to those who offer more threat to her health than otherwise. Understand?"

I nodded. "Good. Now, I'm curious to know about your parents' livelihood," said Sheila's father.

I cleared my throat once again. "They both raise racing Rapidash. My father is very talented at breeding them."

"I see," he said.

As he responded, Sheila's mother looked up behind me and said, "Good morning, Jeremy. I trust you had a pleasant night?"

"Yes, Sharon, thank you," I heard him respond in the distance behind me, noting how he used Mrs. Farris's first name. "Though certain company made it…" He trailed off as I turned around in my chair and he saw me. His face immediately took on a slight look of disapproval.

Elaina walked up from behind him giggling, winking at me slyly. I shot a glare in her direction and attempted to excuse myself, though I saw an opportunity to take a shot at Jeremy. "Mr. and Mrs. Farris, I promise I will not take Sheila's feelings for granted," I said loud enough for Jeremy to hear. "I will do my best to protect her, though I don't believe she necessarily needs my protection. It was a pleasure speaking with you." I stood up with my last words.

Sheila's parents smiled and nodded. Jeremy, however, said, "_You _protect _her_!? A Kantoan whose face looks like it was passed through a grinder? Not if I have anything to say about it!"

"Jeremy, you _don't _have a say in it. Now, if you please, you're making a scene," I said calmly, reveling in my position over him. I could see him turning bright red and fuming intensely.

"Alright, asshole, it's time you put your money where your mouth is," he said angrily, but he kept his voice level. "Right now, outside."

"Perfect," I said with a wicked grin.

Elaina looked like she could barely contain herself. While I thought that I had played Jeremy into challenging me, we had both played right into Elaina's hand. Sheila's parents also looked amused. As Jeremy and I left the hotel, Sheila's family followed.

We left the hotel and circled around the building to a grassy field. Jeremy walked about 150 feet before turning around and declaring, "Four on four!"

I looked around, noting that we were technically still within the city's urban limit, and said with an air of self-righteousness, "Do you seriously expect to battle in the city? Even a rookie knows that it is prohibited."

"Check your facts, Kanto trash," Jeremy spat. "Even a rookie here knows that battling can take place in the city as long as the closest building is farther than 50 feet." I turned bright red in embarrassment and looked at Sheila's father who nodded in confirmation.

I looked back, gently tossed Lazarus's ball up, and then caught it. I chose to send him out first for two reasons: He needed the most improvement out of my lineup, and I knew that Sheila's father was the electric type gym leader. At that point in my journey, Azrael was my highest-level pokemon at level 63, Gilles, Rufus, and Ceto had reached level 60, Dante had reached level 59, and Lazarus was at level 52. Over the previous month and a half, most of my pokemon had raised their levels by either two or three, but Lazarus had raised his by five because he was training with pokemon so much higher than his level. In the latter portion of that time, some of them had learned new techniques that they were still developing, which I chose to use in this fight.

I released Lazarus as Jeremy released his own fighter; a magnificent, blue-scaled Altaria. It flared its cloudlike wings and screeched at us, and Lazarus responded by raising his hackles and snarling. I stole a glance in Sheila's family's direction and saw Mr. Farris's eyebrow raised, Mrs. Farris's arms crossed in front of her, and Elaina hosting a smug grin.

"Charge-bolt," I ordered as the Altaria ascended, its scales started to glow, and small static arches flared in its fluffy wings. The charging beam hit the draconic bird in the chest, making it screech in pain. Shortly thereafter, the Altaria dived at Lazarus in a strong sky attack while it was hit with a bolt of electricity. It continued on and impacted Lazarus despite his attempts to dodge. The air in front of the Altaria had condensed into a hard cone with its point aimed forward, and it struck Lazarus in the shoulder, driving him back and sending drops of blood flying into the air.

While it was close, I yelled, "Thunderpunch!" and Lazarus's fist crackled before he leapt up and slammed it down on top of the Altaria's forehead. It was driven down into the grass and lay motionless aside from the occasional electricity-induced spasm.

Jeremy had a look of surprise and worry while Sheila's father had an expression of curiosity. "You think you have the upper hand?" he yelled. "You won't get past Brutus!" Jeremy raised another pokeball and released a hulking behemoth of a pokemon. I peered at the creature in awe, for the last one I had seen belonged to Aoro. It was an Aggron; an eight-foot-tall, one-and-a-half ton metal plated dinosaur.

Lazarus's electrical attacks would be useless against it, and his physical attacks would hardly hurt the heavily armored behemoth. There was only one move that I knew would be effective, and it was made all-the-more powerful by Lazarus's charged status. "Lazarus, avoid him and use Focus Blast!" I yelled.

The Aggron rushed forward on all fours, its three metal horns aimed at Lazarus. Lazarus dodged to the side, but the Aggron twisted and whipped its steel tail around. Lazarus managed to dodge the Iron Tail by jumping over it, and he quickly sprinted to a distance of ten feet before tensing and extending both of his palms out. The Aggron was facing him and was hit in the stomach by a concentrated burst of force, which left behind a shallow six-inch dent in its armor.

The Aggron grew mad and stomped hard on the ground, causing the earth to quake and me to struggle just to stay on my feet. Lazarus jumped into the air so that he only received a fraction of the damage he could have taken once he landed. Then, he sent another focused burst at the Aggron, denting its upper chest.

The Aggron roared and rushed forward in an attempt to hit Lazarus with another Iron Tail, but Lazarus dodged out of the way once more and sent yet another Focus Blast to indent the armor on its thigh. Finding that the tactic was not working, Jeremy ordered the Aggron to use Rock Slide. It lifted two rocks the size of cars out of the ground, tearing up the grassy earth, and flung them at Lazarus.

Lazarus barely dodged them, diving out of the way before they could hit him. He rolled with the dive and rose to send another Focus Blast at the Aggron's head. Once more, a dent appeared, and once more, the Aggron roared before lifting ten rocks the size of lawn chairs into the air and projecting them at Lazarus. Lazarus dodged most of them, but was clipped on the shoulder and hit squarely in the thigh.

Lazarus flipped end over end with the force of the rocks' blows, but he managed to land on his good leg and send another Focus Blast at the same spot on the Aggron's head. The Aggron flinched and staggered at the blow, allowing Lazarus to send another, which knocked it to the ground. Lazarus did not let up. He sent two more focused blasts of force into the struggling behemoth before it stopped fighting.

Lazarus was in bad shape, but he looked incredibly satisfied with himself. Jeremy was utterly astonished, and Sheila's father looked on with amusement. Before Jeremy released his next pokemon, I returned Lazarus and lifted my Greatball. Azrael appeared with a roar, shaking the area and causing everyone aside from me to recoil in awe of his sheer size and intimidating presence.

Jeremy had released a brown and blue, six-foot-tall – while standing on two legs – salamander. It was a Swampert, and it recoiled in surprise as well. "Rush-to-Quake!" I yelled, and Azrael barreled forward in a swift and powerful Dragon Rush.

I heard Jeremy stutter his command in the meantime. "I-I-Ice Beam!" Azrael closed the distance between him and the Swampert before it could release the beam, and crashed into him with a flurry of draconic claw thrashing. The Swampert was driven backwards off balance, and Azrael whipped his body around to slam the broadside of his tail in to the Swampert, which flung it onto its back ten feet away. Swiftly after that, Azrael followed up with a jarring earthquake which shook the immediate area violently. I heard a series of snaps coming from the Swampert's body before it was recalled.

"He didn't even have a chance to attack…!" exclaimed Jeremy in disbelief. Azrael stood on his hind legs proudly, towering above everyone and waiting for his next opponent. "Who the hell are you!?"

I smiled and said, "I am Zachariah MacAfee, 2073 Junior Indigo Champion." He appeared shocked and hefted another pokeball. "You're still going to keep fighting?"

"You _may _be a junior champion, but I will _not _quit to you!" he said angrily, and released a shadowy mass with a red glowing light coming from the top. It coalesced into a bipedal, rugged, five-foot-tall cyclops with a glowing red eye. A Dusclops.

I said, "Azrael, I know you can take care of him, but I'm going to use Gilles." Azrael looked disappointed as I returned him. Gilles locked his eyes onto the single eye of his opponent as soon as he appeared. "I got ghost, too," I said with a smile. "Hypnosis!"

"Confuse Ray!" Jeremy yelled, and both ghosts were hit with the other's attack. The Dusclops leaned forward, the red glow of its eye disappearing, and Gilles flew around in the air cackling hysterically. At that point, it was only a matter of who came out of his ailment sooner, and Gilles won out. After five seconds, Gilles regained his composure and surged to the Dusclops.

When I saw him regain his senses, I grinned evilly and ordered, "Nightmare!" Gilles giggled and disappeared. The Dusclops then began to let out chilling screams and thrashed incoherently. The shadowy cyclops stumbled around while hypnotized until it fell forward and its eye lit back up. As Gilles materialized, it shot a ball of shadow at him, but Gilles redirected the ball around him and sent it back with double its original velocity and mass.

The Dusclops was hit with the Shadow Ball, and its shrill cry rang out in the vicinity before dying down as its body turned into formless smoke and wafted away on the wind. We were left standing in surprise as I realized that Gilles had "killed" the ghost.

Jeremy attempted to recall his pokemon, but to no avail. He screamed in frustration, and I could see him becoming progressively more distraught very quickly. Even though I did not like him, and I found everything about him annoying, I chose to say, "Jeremy, your ghost is not dead."

Jeremy looked at me with reddened eyes and he said, "What? What are you talking about!? I can't recall him!"

"Ghosts are different than other pokemon," I responded calmly, ignoring his hysterics. "They take very special methods to kill. Your Dusclops will return to its form in a matter of weeks."

"How do _you_ know!?" he yelled.

"How do you think?" I retorted. I had never allowed Gilles to die, but he did not need to know how I was familiar with the subject.

Jeremy seemed to calm down a bit, but he still kept his angry and resentful demeanor. "I will make you pay for this," he said angrily.

"Geez, Sheila wasn't exaggerating. You _are _thick," I responded, knowing that it would affect him. "And speaking of paying, I believe you owe me." I walked to him as I spoke and held out my hand. Jeremy bitterly placed money in my hand. "If I were you, I wouldn't try anything. Just remember what happened today and know that I am more than capable of defending myself," I quietly told him, earning me a look of fear.

Jeremy quickly composed himself and scoffed as he turned on his heel and stomped away. "Good job, Gilles," I said, and then returned him to his pokeball.

"That was impressive, Zachariah," I heard behind me. I turned and found Sheila's father standing nearby. "I see now that you can back up a lot of what you promised us."

I faced him without speaking. I had a feeling that what he said implied that he had wanted to see me fight at some point. "In any case, all three pokemon you used performed expertly. You have trained them well. If you would be so kind as to humor me, I would like to inspect your Electabuzz."

"Thank you, Leader Farris," I responded. "Just give me a moment so I can heal his leg." Mr. Farris nodded and I administered a strong potion to Lazarus's pokeball, bringing him from 16% to 53%. I released him in front of me and he appeared resting on all four of his legs. He tested his weight on his leg before looking to me.

"Lazarus, this is Leader Farris. He would like to inspect you," I told my Electabuzz.

Lazarus regarded Mr. Farris guardedly. Mr. Farris walked up to him and balled his right hand into a fist, put that fist to his left shoulder, and then reached out with his right hand in an open palm. His palm touched Lazarus on his left shoulder, and a small jolt of electricity arced between his palm and Lazarus's fur.

Lazarus seemed to be surprised by the motion, but his demeanor changed to acceptance and he touched a crackling fist to Mr. Farris's shoulder, sending a small bolt of electricity back. Mr. Farris did not flinch, but only smiled instead. "_Lazarus_, you have been trained to be very fast, which is very good, but your attack strength development is lagging." Mr. Farris then looked at me. "You need to focus more on that from now on."

Once again, I did not speak. I felt patronized, but I also recognized the electric gym leader's expertise. I also felt that he was hinting at something so subtle that I was not capable of catching on. In short, I was a bit puzzled, so I refrained from saying anything.

"Unless you raise your Electabuzz's power, he will not reach the minimum threshold he needs to evolve," Mr. Farris continued. "Of course, that is if you can figure out how to evolve him," he said with a wink. "Either way, he can't just rely on speed alone. He was able beat Jeremy's Aggron, but that was only because he was higher level than him, and he had access to a technique that was effective to both of the Aggron's subtypes. Don't get me wrong, you have done a good job in training him, but there is room for improvement so that he can truly be effective.

"On another note, that dragon of yours is truly magnificent; by far the largest Garchomp I have ever seen. He must be over twice the size of a normal Garchomp. I say, how did you come by such an amazing specimen of his breed?"

"It's a long story," I replied.

"I see…" he said. "Sheila told me that she beat you when you first met."

"That's right," I confirmed.

"She also told me that she might not be able to anymore. What do you say to that?"

"I would say that we've both improved since then. Maybe."

"Interesting. It would be an intense battle to observe…" Mr. Farris said in thought. "Maybe we can set something up after Sheila's gym battle."

"You want me to battle her after she's done with the gym? What if she doesn't win? If I beat her, that would be a pretty crappy stain on my visit for her," I responded.

"First, don't insult her. This gym is water, she has a grass-heavy team, and she is a very competent trainer. Second, if she wins, then it will be that much more of a confidence boost for her since she thinks so highly of you. Third, if she does lose, then she will work past it. She has grown much since she first battled you and I know that she is strong enough to get past a loss, even if it is after her gym battle. Besides, I believe that earning her last badge will trump a trainer loss."

"I guess… But why would I want to even try? Why would I want to rain on her parade?" I asked.

"Good point," Sheila's father said. "In that case, let's make a wager. If you win, then I will tell you how to evolve your Electabuzz."

Lazarus perked up at his words. I also stared at him in surprise. "Why do you want me to fight her so badly?"

"For the same reason that I wanted to see you fight Jeremy, Zachariah. I want to see how you battle. Battling has a tendency to show a trainer's true nature, and I believe that you and Sheila can learn a lot about each other by how you battle," he explained.

"If you want to see me battle so badly, then why don't you challenge me?" I asked him.

"HAHA. Don't be ridiculous. I need to see how you battle in a _fair _fight. Jeremy was not fair competition, nor would I be. This would be a brilliant test for _both _of you."

I could not argue with his reasoning. I did understand, though, that even though he wanted to see me fight for the purpose of learning who I was on a primal level, I knew that he also wanted me to battle simply for his personal enjoyment. I felt like a pawn and I did not like it, but the allure of learning Lazarus's evolutionary method was enough to compel me to ignore my feelings of being used.

"Fine, but I am not initiating the battle. If Sheila doesn't want to battle, then I won't push her to," I said.

"Fair enough. Now, I'll let you get back to your day. I'm sure you had plans to attend," agreed Mr. Farris.

"Thank you, Mr. Farris." Mr. Farris inclined his head and returned to his wife, who led him back to the hotel. Elaina stayed behind with a big goofy grin on her face. "You wanted Jeremy and I to battle from the start, didn't you?" I asked her with disdain.

"You played right into my hand. You didn't even put up a fight." Elaina laughed. "It was _much _too easy." With that, she turned on her heel and joined her parents. I slowly shook my head with a sigh before releasing Azrael, who looked at me with a hurt expression.

"Oh come on Azrael, he wasn't even a challenge for you," I told him. Azrael only huffed and gave the dragon equivalent of a pout. "Lighten up, there's a good chance we might challenge Sheila. _That _will be a challenge. Plus, you'll get a shot at redemption against Kara."

Azrael's pouting disappeared and was replaced with an intimidating look of determination. "That's the spirit!" I said happily. "Let's get out of here. We have training to get to!"

Less than five minutes later, we were soaring into the sky, putting distance between us and Sootopolis City. Once we had risen a mile and a half into the sky, I was able to see the ring of the crater in which Sootopolis City was built. It stretched around like a great volcanic bowl in the middle of the ocean. Open sea surrounded the crater for miles and miles, but to the northwest I could make out the form of a large landmass. I could also see a large ruined tower stretching into the sky above the surface of the water to the southeast.

With my rudimentary knowledge of Hoenn's geography learned from school, and from Sheila and her sister, I knew that large islands surrounded the crater in a large circle, and that the water currents swept in a circular path around the central crater, inside of the outer islands' circumference. I also knew that the Hoenn mainland lay to the northeast, and that it was what I was most likely seeing.

I decided to head to the closest landmass, which was the mainland. We arrived 30 minutes later, and it amazed me that the bright green foliage was not only limited to the islands. Tropical vegetation extended as far as the eye could see, and a lack of any visible sign of civilization told me that I was in an off-route area.

We wasted no time finding a large clearing in the trees where we could spend the day. When we landed, I picked up on some environmental cues that told me the clearing had been used before, such as large gouges in the earth, dead plants with blackened stalks, and remnants of a campfire. I immediately released all of my pokemon after administering my new TM to Rufus's pokeball, and we spent the remainder of the day training.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Watching a pokemon battle was an experience completely apart from actually participating in one. It was not as though I had not experienced the unpressured excitement from the stands; it just never failed to fill me with a different type of excitement on which I was compelled to reflect and mentally take note.

The sound of the crowd in the stands around me had risen to a dull roar by the time the announcer had started giving Sheila an introduction. By the time he finished and Sheila had taken the field, the roar of the crowd had grown in volume and swept me into its rallying embrace. When she stopped in front of the gym leader to link her PokeDex, I saw the charm hanging from it, and I saw that she was still wearing the Greatball necklace.

**Noble denizens, Sootopolis City gym warmly welcomes you as you show your support for Miss Sheila Farris, who is challenging Leader Gary Marshall for her final badge in the Hoenn Pokemon League! Sheila Farris, from Mauville City, has a record of seven wins and one loss, making her one of Hoenn's premier trainers! **

I stopped cheering in surprise and looked to Elaina, who was standing beside me. Struggling to speak above the din of the crowd, I asked her, "Sheila lost!?"

Elaina nodded and replied, "At Lavaridge! It's the fire-based fourth gym in our circuit!" I was surprised that Sheila had not mentioned it before, but my attention was drawn by the announcer before I could dwell on that fact.

**At the Mossdeep City gym, Miss Farris competed with the following lineup: her starter, Kara the Roserade, Larry the Ampharos, Shade the Gardevoir, Wilber the Walrein, Geo the Grotle, and Thomas the Breloom! Sheila will have an edge over Leader Marshall, for four out of her six pokemon from her last gym battle are strong against the gym leader's water lineup. This will be an exciting fight, indeed!**

I reflected upon the information that the announcer had just given. Sheila had added two more grass-types to her team. The Grotle was grass/ground and the Breloom was grass/fighting. Overall, her team was weighed heavily towards grass types, but it also had effective cross-type diversity.

By that time, Sheila had come to stand in front of the gym leader in one of the only patches of grass that scarcely fell upon pools and trenches filled with water, reeds, and lily pads. I could tell that they were talking, but their conversation was not relayed through the speakers. A couple minutes later, Leader Marshall, a lithe and athletic-looking man wearing a red swimsuit and a sleeveless t-shirt, reached up and switched on the microphone at his mouth.

"Take your position, trainer!" he called out, and Sheila moved to the side of the marshy arena.

**Sheila has taken her position. Who will she lead with?**

Sheila raised a pokeball and before her appeared Kara, her Roserade. **It looks like she has led with her strongest! Leader Marshall leads with a Floatzel. **In front of Leader Marshall spawned an orange otter - much like Elaina's except much brawnier. It quickly dived into the water in front of it as the battle started.

Sheila issued orders and Kara spewed purple liquid from her bouquets into the water around her. In the meantime, the Floatzel moved through the water lithely and leapt into the air, sending a beam of ice straight at Kara, who dodged to the side while continuing her rapid pollution of the water. The Floatzel continued to swim at breakneck speed, cutting through the water like a bullet. In the span of five seconds, it had leapt out of the water twice more and sent ice beams at Kara, who was only capable of dodging one. The other hit Kara in her red bouquet, freezing the petals.

Kara's toxic stream halted from that bouquet and she lifted it up to receive sunlight, which poured in through the uncovered roof. The sunlight melted the ice as Kara continued to hold her bouquet skyward, drawing in light that seemed to invigorate her. Her other bouquet continued to spew toxins into the water. By then, the toxic morass was spreading far from her, limiting the Floatzel's mobility.

The Floatzel jumped into the air once more to deliver an ice beam to Kara's body before Kara halted the toxic stream and lifted her pink bouquet to the sky. Kara's body started to heal, but the Floatzel left the water and charged towards her, albeit slower than it could swim. When it drew close, Kara lowered her pink bouquet and released a greenish yellow beam of energy at it.

The Floatzel dodged quickly and lunged at Kara with icy fangs. Kara could not dodge as it latched on to her pink bouquet, simultaneously shredding, freezing, and shattering the petals. Kara then lowered her red bouquet and fired another solar beam point blank into the Floatzel's body. The Floatzel screeched in pain and fell over, its fur blackened and steaming.

**Leader Marshall's first pokemon is the first to go down! How will the gym leader respond to Kara? Oh? Sheila is switching out Kara for… **

Sheila's Gardevoir appeared before her while Leader Marshall deployed his agile challenger: a six-foot at the shoulders aqua-colored sea lion with flowing white whiskers, a large horn on its head, a flat razor-edged tail, and un-sheathable bone blades in its forearms.

**Sheila has switched Kara out for Shade, her Gardevoir, and Leader Marshall follows up with a mighty Samurott!**

The Samurott roared in challenge and reared its legs before diving into the water. The toxins that Kara had emptied into the water supply were still spreading, infecting much of the water. Immediately, Shade brought up a translucent barrier around her. The Samurott lifted its head out of the water and let loose an ice beam, which impacted Shade's barrier to stab her in the shoulder. Shade winced in pain and followed up by dividing herself into five images and spreading out such that every image was equidistant from the Samurott.

The Samurott once again released an ice beam which impacted the correct Shade in the gut. The attacks looked to be somewhat effective despite Gardevoirs' natural resistance to extraphysical attacks. Seeing that the Samurott was able to attack effectively at the distance it was forced to attack from because of the poisoned water, Sheila switched tactics. All five images of Shade disappeared and reappeared behind the Samurott in a half-circle formation.

All images then raised their hands, and a powerful psychic force lifted the Samurott partially out of the water and flung it towards the poisoned area. The Samurott fell short but the images of Shade teleported closer in a similar fashion to deliver the same attack. The Samurott managed to catch itself that time on a wave by manipulating the water underneath. It used the wave to propel itself out of the water while sending another wave crashing into every image of Shade.

The Samurott was now out of the water, and Shade's images teleported around it. I was impressed because Sheila had effectively changed the terms of the fight, bringing the Samurott into close-quarters-combat.

Shade's images all shot magical leaves into the grounded Samurott, but the Samurott was not helpless. In fact, it seemed to be nearly as adept at physical combat as it was at ranged. With a twist of its body, its razor-tail became coated with a foot of water, and the Samurott slammed it into two of the images, which shimmered. The interesting part is that the images did not disappear after being attacked, but instead only shimmered before remaining. It was a testament to Shade's skill that she was able to keep them up.

The Samurott also unsheathed a bone blade and whipped it through two more images, managing to slice the real Shade across her red gem in her chest. Shade recoiled again, and then teleported so that all images rearranged. Then, all of them shimmered as only one glowed slightly. All of the images turned into balls of light, and shot into the Samurott. At the same time, the barrier around Shade projected forward as well and slammed into the back of the Samurott.

The crowd oohed and awed as they witnessed the powerful Stored Energy technique. The Samurott collapsed, leaving Shade floating without extra images or her barrier.

**Shade triumphs over Leader Marshall's Samurott. She looks a little worse for wear, though. Ah! Leader Marshall is sending out a Greninja! How will Sheila respond?**

The Greninja, a five-foot-tall dark blue ninja-frog with a tongue that wrapped around its neck like a shawl, rushed forward above the surface of the water. As it did, Shade glowed with a pink aura, and some of her injuries healed, but she cut it short to send a ball of natural energy flying at the approaching enemy. However, the Greninja used a jet of water beneath him to propel him in a forward flip over the attack while launching small spikes of water that impacted Shade's unprotected body. The water shurikens embedded in her skin and drew thin lines of blood.

The Greninja finally reached the grassy area and lunged forward to attack Shade, only to disappear and reappear to the side in a deadly feint attack which slammed Shade out of the air. She was then returned to her pokeball.

**Shade goes down! She is the first of Sheila's pokemon to fall. Who will she use next? It looks like she sent out Thomas, her Breloom! Looks like Leader Marshall will have a difficult time dealing with him!**

The kangaroo-like pokemon with a large mushroom hat and a long, hardened-spore-tipped tail jumped forward to attack the Greninja. The Greninja attempted to keep its distance and threw many water shurikens, many of which were able to hit Thomas, but the Breloom launched spores in many areas over which the Greninja was running. The spores attached to the Greninja and slowed it down enough for Thomas to get close enough to whip his tail around and slam it under the Greninja's jaw.

The Greninja rocketed skyward and Thomas loosed some hard seeds from his mushroom, which impacted the airborne frog. The Greninja landed on its feet clumsily, but before it could act, Thomas shot forward with a swift mach punch that struck it across the face and knocked it out.

**That's three! Sheila moves on to round two now with only one of her pokemon down. **

There was a brief pause before Leader Marshall sent out his next pokemon; a Starmie, a purple psychic starfish with ten arms and a crimson gem in the middle of its body. It rose into the air and stared down Thomas.

The Starmie started by drawing some of the poison-saturated water from the pools and using it in a strong hydro pump, which struck Thomas and pushed him back. Thomas ran forward and shot more seed bombs into the air, which also landed. When he moved close enough, however, the Starmie used a powerful psychic force to propel him back ten yards.

Thomas followed up with a Mega Drain, which leeched the life from the Starmie. The Starmie psychically pummeled Thomas again, but he managed to stay conscious because of the Mega Drain. Thomas then launched another Seed Bomb, which hit the Starmie in the middle of its gem, cracking it.

Thomas, though, was not able to attack again, for the Starmie used yet another psychic attack to finish him off.

**Sheila is now down two pokemon. Who will she use now?**

A flash brightened the area in front of Sheila, and an enormous expanse of rocks and shrubs appeared before her. At first, I thought that she had somehow managed to release a pokemon under the ground to drive the earth up, but I quickly realized when the expanse shifted that the region _was _the pokemon.

**It looks like Sheila's Grotle has evolved since her last battle! Geo is now a Torterra! **

The ground raised up well past Sheila's height and revealed a jagged-jawed, turtle-like figure. It had two large white spikes protruding from its cheeks and a thick shell separating its lower body from the earthy, rocky foliage that grew from it.

The first thing that the Starmie did was to start glowing, and the crack in its gem healed over. Geo, though, fired around ten hardened razor leaves which impacted multiple places on the Starmie. The Starmie responded by projecting a beam of ice into the center of Geo's mass. Even though it was very effective, Geo shrugged off most of the damage and sent more razor leaves spiraling through the air.

The leaves impacted once more, cutting two of the ten arms off completely and rending deep gouges all over the rest of its body. The Starmie shuddered and healed itself once again, growing back the two dismembered limbs, after which more razor leaves impacted it.

The Starmie then used one of the most powerful ice techniques known to the League: Blizzard. The Starmie gathered much of the water around it and whipped it around in the air, flash-freezing most of it into slush and lowering the temperature measurably. The ice grew in volume, during which time Geo continued to barrage it with hardened leaves, until it was all directed towards Geo. The icy winds and slush pummeled Geo, and he roared in pain for five seconds as the blizzard continued to pound him.

When the blizzard died down, Geo amazingly remained standing, a fact that the announcer did not miss.

**Geo is still standing! What a trooper! For those of you who do not know, Torterra are known to be very durable and hardy. They can withstand a lot of punishment. **

From Geo's back came two long animated vines around the width of my arm, and they whipped forward violently to both slap and grab on to the Starmie. They caught the Starmie, and immediately glowed green while sucking the life out of the Starmie, causing its gem to dim. The Starmie was returned before it was permanently disabled.

**Only two more left! Let's see if Sheila has it in her to win!**

A new foe appeared before Geo. It was a mighty Gyarados whose body was able to be fully submerged. Unfortunately for it, almost all of the water was infected with poison. It was only a minor inconvenience to the large creature, though. It immediately raised its head to the sky and roared, causing dark clouds to form and pour down rain.

Geo did not wait for anything further. It launched razor leaves at the draconic fish, peppering its hard scales with little effect. Then, in a show of the Gyarados' sheer strength and control over water, most of the water in the arena was drawn before the Gyarados in an immense poisoned wall. The mass of water then surged forward, crashing into Geo and passing on to hit the side of the arena walls. The water splashed into the crowd on the other end and then sank into the back reservoirs.

I worriedly looked at the crowd because I knew that the poison in the water could be deadly, and found several medical personnel making their way through the crowd and administering antidotes.

I then returned my attention to the field to see the rain pouring through the roof and rapidly filling the empty pools. I also saw Geo completely encased in his shell, with thick roots embedded in the earth, keeping himself stationary. He was unharmed by the powerful surf, but as he withdrew from his shell, the Gyarados lunged forward with an icy bite, catching Geo in the leg. The Gyarados was not strong enough to tear the Torterra's roots from the ground, but it shook so violently that Geo lurched to the side and fell unconscious.

**That's another of Sheila's team down! It's really heating up!**

Sheila then led with Larry, which the announcer proclaimed. Larry stood proudly on the field with his telltale weak arm. Watching the screens that followed Sheila's face, I saw her show an evil grin as she looked up and yelled, "THUNDER!"

Leader Marshall looked concerned as Larry's orb on his tail lit up and a bolt of lightning struck from the tumultuous clouds above. The bolt of lightning struck the Gyarados in the body, causing the creature to convulse and a large blackened spot to appear where it had been hit. At the same time, the lights in the gym flickered and everyone's hair stood on end. The Gyarados shrieked and let loose a devastating hyper beam which hit Larry in the chest.

Larry recoiled with the hit and then loosed a thunderbolt from its tail, striking the Gyarados in the neck and causing it to crash down to the floor twitching. It was then returned to its ball.

**Leader Marshall's Gyarados is down! Two hits! Larry is truly a force to be reckoned with! Leader Marshall is down to his last pokemon!**

In a flash of light, the gym leader's last competitor was released. The pokemon was a spitting image of Aoro's Kabutops. Its hardened carapace only gave way to its wicked scythe-like blades. It rushed forward quickly despite its heavy armor and shrugged off the lightning bolts that struck it. When it reached Larry, it sliced him across the chest, drawing a line of blood with ease.

Before the Kabutops could continue to rend Larry unabated, Sheila switched him out for her starter.

**Sheila has brought Kara back to the fight! This could be over soon, folks!**

Kara immediately sprayed the Kabutops with spores that took hold all over its body. It fought through the paralysis though, and it leapt at Kara. Kara could not move out of the way as it sliced her across her hardened faceplate. Green liquid oozed out, but Kara continued on as if it were only a minor nuisance. She raised her red bouquet into the air and aimed her other pink bouquet at the Kabutops.

The pink bouquet loosed a whirlwind of slicing petals that swirled around her, hitting the Kabutop's thick armor but doing only minor damage. The Kabutops sliced again, cutting the pink bouquet in half and causing Kara to wince in pain. Before the Kabutops could follow up with another devastating slice, Kara lowered her red bouquet and fired a solar beam into her opponent, both of whose subtypes were weak against grass-type.

I was confused at how Kara was able to draw solar power with the clouds above blocking the sun and made a point of asking her about it later.

The Kabutops was blown back and cried out in pain. Kara then, without hesitating, shed all of her petals in her bouquets. The petals fell, but did not hit the floor. They swirled around in the air so fast and violently, that a shrieking whistle rang out through the gym as they cut through the air. It almost sounded like music, and the way Kara moved her body to direct the flow almost looked like dancing, which revealed what technique she was using.

**Wow! This is an advanced technique, folks! Kara is using Petal Dance!**

The petals flew around the Kabutops, and since they were moving so fast, they cut through its carapace as easily as its own blades had cut through Kara. The petals continued to swirl about the Kabutops, rending hundreds of gouges into its skin. The Kabutops struggled to move forward despite the vortex of razor-sharp petals, but the paralyzing spores finally started to take effect.

However, the Kabutops was not finished. It slammed its bony heel into the ground, and a sharp rock spike jutted out of the ground directly underneath Kara, throwing her onto her back and interrupting the petal dance. It then struggled to overcome the spores as it slowly closed the distance between them. At the same time, Kara raised her red stub of a bouquet and the Kabutops shuddered. A green aura leeched from it to Kara, causing her bouquet to grow back rapidly and the Kabutops to fall to a knee. Then, Kara raised her newly grown red bouquet to the sky for several seconds and lowered it like an executioner, aiming it at the Kabutops' head.

The Kabutops disappeared and the announcer yelled, **She's done it! Sheila has defeated the final gym in the Hoenn League! She only suffered minimal losses to her team, and her final score is 8-1! What a great day for Hoenn!**

Sheila met with Leader Marshall in the center of the arena after recalling Kara. After a few minutes in which we saw her presented with a badge, she left the stadium through the side entrance. The crowd then scrambled to leave while Sheila's family simply waited in the stands. I followed suit and waited.

A few minutes later, Sheila's father stood up and walked to the edge of the spectators' balcony. Leader Marshall was still standing in the arena, though he had a trainer take his pokemon to the PokeCenter machine. He looked up to see Sheila's father, smiled, and walked over. From around ten feet below, he yelled out, "Jason! I knew I would find you here! Your daughter did quite a good job."

"That she did indeed, Gary," Mr. Farris replied. "I hope you didn't go easy on her just because I'm her father."

"Of course not! I wouldn't go easy on my own baby daughter!"

Mr. Farris laughed and continued to talk to the gym leader for about ten more minutes before we left. By that time, Sheila had already finished her interview and was thanking her fans. Her hair and clothing were drenched, and she had bits of grass and petals sticking to her. When we walked in the room, Sheila ran up to her mother and father and hugged them happily. Then she turned to me, hugged me, and then planted a kiss on my lips.

My eyes shot wide open, for I was very aware of who was watching; notably her parents and ALL of Hoenn. I heard the clicks of pictures being taken and grew as red as I had ever been before Sheila detached herself from me and smiled. As happy as I was for her, I was embarrassed to the extreme. I refrained from looking at her parents, and instead just looked at the wall to the side.

Laughter rang out and I awkwardly waited for Sheila to lead the way out. We exited the gym with the crowd still surrounding us, and news reporters had their video cameras focused on Sheila's family and myself. They obviously wanted to catch the shows of pride from Sheila's gym leader father and her mother.

An hour later, the crowds died down. My embarrassment had not eased in the least, but at least people were more focused on talking to Sheila. When Sheila had had enough, she thanked her fans and made her way to the closest Pokemon Center, where she admitted her injured pokemon.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The next morning, I met Sheila in the lounge where she was using her PokeDex. She was giggling, so I sat down next to her on the sofa and inquired about the cause. I saw that she was looking at a forum where a picture was posted of me and her kissing in front of the Sootopolis gym. My eyes were wide open and looking to the side, casting me in a very unappealing light.

People were posting comments such as, "What a spaz!" and "Who the hell is that guy anyway?" Other people said things such as, "Nooooooo! Sheila can't be taken!" and "At least kiss her back, man! She deserves better."

I put my head in my hands with an exasperated sigh. Sheila continued to giggle. "Why did you do that there?" I asked.

"I was happy. And I wanted to!" Sheila declared. "Plus, the picture is priceless!"

I was not amused at her laughter. "Ugh, now everyone in Hoenn thinks I'm some sort of spaz…"

"Well, aren't you?" Sheila asked with laugh. I shot her a dirty look and she only laughed more. "Oh, you'll get over it. At least you didn't spaz out in Kanto, right?"

As she said that, another comment was posted on the forum. It said, "Hey that's Zachariah MacAfee!" Another comment appeared quickly after. "Who's Zachariah MacAfee?" The previous person then posted, "He's Kanto's junior champ from last year!" "Some champ!"

"Please turn it off, Sheila…" I pleaded.

"Turn what off?" I heard from the entrance to the lounge. I looked up to see Elaina walking in. I sighed as she plopped herself down next to Sheila, looked at the PokeDex, and started laughing. "No wonder! You look absolutely awful!"

The moment of hilarity at my expense thankfully did not last long, for Elaina had come with her parents who wanted to return to their home in Mauville. They walked in shortly after with a Xatu. "Sheila, we are heading home. Get your things together," Mrs. Farris said.

Sheila finished giggling, turned off the PokeDex, and said, "Alright. Meet you out here in five." I agreed and went back to my room to gather my belongings. Afterwards, we met Sheila's parents in the lobby and allowed their Xatu to teleport us away.

We appeared in an immense courtyard in the front of an enormous house with archaic pillars lining the front. Interestingly enough, I saw a dish on the roof, but I did not see any electrical cables leading to the house. I looked around to see a ten-foot stone wall encircling the 125 acre estate with a power gate and intercom.

Upon appearing, we were greeted by a man in a black suit. "Welcome home, sir. I trust the Lady Sheila's gym challenge turned out agreeably?"

"Yes, Albert," Mr. Farris responded to the butler. "Anything happen that I should know about since I have been away?"

"Yes, sir. Two trainers have issued challenges, and the generators are down to 35% capacity."

"Very well. Schedule the challenges for the day after tomorrow at noon. I will see to the generators immediately. Thank you, Albert," said Mr. Farris gratefully

"Immediately, sir," responded the butler.

"Oh, and show our guest, Mr. MacAfee, to his room."

"Absolutely, sir."

With that, Mr. Farris turned and walked parallel to the house, releasing a Jolteon and an Electivire on the way. The butler Albert beckoned me to follow, so I allowed him to lead me inside the magnificent house. Inside the front door, I was led up one of two symmetrical curved staircases, where I was shown through a hallway towards a guest bedroom at its end.

From inside the room, I had a second-story view of the immediate vicinity of the backyard. 50 feet away was an expanse where large metal tiles had been laid down on the earth and where a few metal rods were protruding from the earth in strategic spots. Nearby, I saw Mr. Farris walking towards a shed, where he was able to access a grid. Also in the shed was what looked like a few receiver nodes which the Electivire grabbed.

I saw the Electivire surge with electricity while holding onto the nodes, and the Jolteon similarly struck another with a bolt of electricity. While that happened, Albert directed my attention to the bathroom and other amenities.

When Albert finished, he led me to a lounge on the first floor where Sheila and Elaina were relaxing and then returned to his other duties. From there, Sheila gave me a tour of her house, and I was shown the parlor, a small library, several guest rooms, and a study amongst a few others. Then, we sat down for lunch.

During lunch, I learned about extra privileges that came with earning eight badges. One such privilege is that trainers are allowed to carry two more pokemon under a new category called "In Preparation" as opposed to the "Storage" and "Active" categories. They can be trained with the pokemon trainer's team but cannot be used in battle. Only the six pokemon under the "Active" category are allowed to battle.

Another privilege is increased ease of access to certain permits like a breeder's permit. Lastly, the eighth badge allows a trainer to shed his or her designation as a junior trainer and take on the title of Expert Trainer or League Finalist. Furthermore, the trainer receives two badges: the gym's badge, and the Finalist Badge which the trainer can wear instead of all eight badges.

After lunch, we released our pokemon outside, and my team was given the opportunity to reconnect with Sheila's. It was a lackluster and laidback reunion, with the most notable interaction occurring between Shade and Dante. But it was mostly telepathic so I did not know its full extent. Their eyes lit up and their chest gems glowed. Beyond that, I could not make out anything, though Shade mentally addressed me after a while.

_Yeshku named Zachariah, please allow me to speak to you. It is difficult to affirm your retention of my words, so simply nod if you accept._ I did so and she continued. _My Kya'Kun feels strongly about you, even more, I daresay, then she even yet realizes. I know this because I am affected by her state of mind easily, so your effect is obvious to me. However, despite her affections for you, her well-being is far more important to me, and I will do _anything _to ensure it. Even if I must cause her the emotional pain of losing you._

I heard the threat in her last statement, and while I had no doubt that my pokemon could protect me from her, I chose to take a more non-confrontational approach. I nodded in acceptance, for I had a sneaking suspicion that Dante may have performed similar protective gestures to those who have accompanied me in the past. He might have even done so to Sheila before.

After Shade had relayed her message to me, I enjoyed the remainder of the day with Sheila and our pokemon until it was time for dinner. It was then that Sheila's father brought up the subject of a battle between me and Sheila.

"So Sheila," he started. "What are your plans now that you've earned your last badge?"

"Well," she replied in thought. "I want to keep training. There's still a lot of room to get better."

"That's true, but you have now completed the circuit, which is more than most trainers can say. You are doing pretty well nowadays," he continued.

"I guess. But I have nowhere near the skill I need to beat the Elite 4."

"That's also true. To get that point, you need to challenge even stronger opponents than the standard league gym teams. And those kind of challenges are more difficult to come by than junior league challenges," he said, drawing closer to the purpose of the conversation.

"I get that," Sheila responded. "And I agree."

"Excellent. Do you remember when you told me that you did not know whether you could beat Zachariah again?"

"Dad, please," Sheila replied, growing a little red with embarrassment.

"Why don't you find out?" he continued, ignoring Sheila's outcry.

Sheila was quiet for a while as she ate a couple forkfuls from her plate. "I don't know. My team is still a bit weary from their battle."

"They will fine by tomorrow, I guarantee it," her father replied.

"Still…" she replied in hesitation. "What do you think, Zach?"

I was afraid that I would be dragged in to the conversation. "I'm willing if you are."

"In that case, I guess we could. But this seems kind of random. What's going on?" Sheila asked perceptively.

"I want to see how Zachariah battles in a fair fight," her father responded bluntly. "I also want _you _to see how he fights so that you can learn who he is." Sheila still looked hesitant, but she also looked a bit excited. "That's good. You should never be afraid of a fight!" Mr. Farris commented, perhaps alluding to a lesson he had taught her in the past.

"Okay! A battle tomorrow, it is!" declared Sheila excitedly. We then returned to our supper, though I noticed a discreet smug smile radiating from Mr. Farris.

Later that night before we headed to bed, Sheila and I found ourselves alone in the parlor watching LeagueWatch. We had already discussed the battle at dinner, but I felt the need to let her know of my intentions.

"Sheila, about tomorrow's battle," I started.

She acknowledged my declaration with a short "Mhmm?"

"I think it's fair to let you know that your father spoke with me about the battle yesterday. I was hesitant, so he told me that if I won, he would tell me how to evolve my Electabuzz."

"Is that so?" Sheila replied. "I guess it's not surprising, really. When he wants something, he usually gets it. Thank you for telling me." Her warm smile indicated that she wanted to show a more physical form of gratitude, but she did not act upon her desire. Sheila had made no romantic move since we arrived, and she continued to hold her sense of propriety.

"You're welcome. I didn't want to deceive you; it would be disrespectful," I replied to her. "But on another note, I am curious as to how Kara was able to gather the energy to use Solar Beam when the sun was blocked out by clouds."

"Hmm. I'm not surprised that you noticed that," she said with a smirk. "Perhaps I'll tell you after our battle."

I laughed and resigned myself to waiting. We then continued to watch the television until we went to bed.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The Farris's grassy yard stretched on in all directions with scatterings of trees; it was the perfect place for a battle. Sheila stood 50 paces away and her family stood 75 paces away from the midpoint between me and Sheila.

Sheila knew what my pokemon were and I knew what hers were, so it was a gamble to start. My advantage was knowing that three of her six pokemon were grass types, so Rufus and Gilles were going to be very effective due to their fire and poison types respectively. However, since she knew that, there was a chance that she would try to counter either one of them. Knowing that, I could have used a pokemon whose abilities would counter one of the few that could counter Gilles or Rufus. But then, I knew that Sheila knew that Rufus and Gilles were effective against all of her pokemon except for Wilbur and Larry, and Wilbur would be devastating to Rufus.

…With all considerations in mind, I started with Dante, who was both versatile and outside of the realm of potential weakness to Sheila's team. Apparently, Sheila also played it safe, for she started with Larry, her Ampharos. I would guess it was because she had also analyzed my team and used a pokemon which only had one weakness to it, knowing that I would not start with the one who was strong against him.

"Charge!" Sheila yelled.

"Team-Teleport to Calm!" I called out.

Larry's tail lit up like a beacon as it drew in energy, and Dante split into five images. Dante then teleported so that his images were spread out over the field and immediately calmed his thoughts to raise his resistance to Larry's specialty of non-physical attacks.

As all of Dante's images relaxed, Larry discharged a bubble of electricity that hit all of Dante's images, but did not travel far enough to hit Sheila or myself. Dante's images recoiled slightly, his added resistance taking the edge off the charged electrical attack. "Great! Double Team again and Grab'n'Break!"

Dante divided again and dodged a bolt of lightning aimed at him. Then he psychically threw the Ampharos towards himself and teleported, just as he had against Leader Zaiden's Arcanine. This time, however, all of the images teleported in a line, which stretched along Larry's trajectory. The first image that Larry passed under took a swing, but turned out to be just an image, but it fooled Larry into acting in self-defense. His tail let out a bolt of electricity which passed through Dante's image, destroying it.

The second image that Larry passed under, though, landed a physical hit with its palm, and sent Larry plummeting straight down to the ground where he hit with an audible _thud! _Dante fell towards him with his blades raised, but Larry managed to whip his tail around and release a jolt of electricity which sounded like a cannon.

The Zap Cannon hit Dante in the midsection, briefly lighting him up like a lightbulb. Dante managed to teleport his images to a distance, but his muscles twitched uncontrollably. Larry then crawled to his feet and looked around at the various images, wobbling slightly and limping. I heard Sheila yell an order for Thunderbolt as I yelled, "Psycho-cut!"

Larry zapped another image of Dante as he struggled to act despite his seizing nerves. Larry was able to shock one more image before Dante let loose a trio of psychic blades which sliced through the air towards Larry. Larry attempted to dodge, but he doubled over when his movement aggravated the injury that Dante had given him. The result was all three blades cutting in to him and knocking him out in a spray of blood.

Sheila wasted no time recalling him. She then released Shade, who stared down her wounded enemy with intensely glowing eyes. _Crap_, I thought, _Dante won't last long_. "Nightslash!" I yelled as Sheila ordered Shade to multiply. Luckily, Dante was able to teleport his images behind her before her images spread out, and he warped the light along his blade such that it ripped through Shade's gown, cutting deep and drawing a modicum of blood.

Shade reacted with a scream and teleported away. When she appeared in five different locations, she sent out a bolt of electricity from an outstretched hand that struck the correct image of Dante, causing his muscles to react more violently. I returned him immediately, for at that time, he was a sitting Psyduck and Sheila would most likely have taken that time to have Shade heal herself.

I quickly released Rufus, who appeared with a howl. I chose him over Gilles because he had a much more powerful Dark Pulse technique, and I wanted to take out Shade as quickly as I could. I immediately ordered him to do so as Sheila expectantly ordered Shade to heal herself. Shade managed to heal a small portion of her injury, but was hit with the pulse of dark energy before she could make any significant progress.

Shade continued to heal herself, focusing on her new wounds, so I ordered Rufus to keep it up. Shade may have been advanced enough to keep her images from disappearing after being hit, but she was not good enough to keep the images from shimmering and giving her position away. And even if she was good enough, Rufus could smell her blood that Dante had drawn.

"Charge-Crunch!" I yelled. Rufus sped across the field wreathed in an inferno and slammed into Shade. Right as he hit her, though, she let out a burst of electricity that immediately sent Rufus's muscles spasming. I groaned, for she was using the same tactic as before. Rufus attempted to land his dark crunch, but Shade teleported away. She then lifted a hand and a focused blast of force hit Rufus in the chest, knocking him back.

I recognized the Focus Blast and yelled out commands quickly, for I knew that Rufus was weak to it. Rufus let out another dark pulse at my command and hit all of the images once more. They all fell to the ground, but remained standing. I saw another Focus Blast coming, so I yelled, "Protect!" but Rufus's muscles seized up again, allowing him to be hit with the strong fighting technique. He still stood defiant, though.

The fight between them ended soon after when Rufus let out another black pulse and Shade sent another focused blast at the same time. The blast cut through the pulse and hit Rufus, but his pulse still hit Shade, causing both pokemon to pass out. They were returned and I had to make a quick decision about my next fighter.

I believed that Sheila was saving her Walrein for Azrael, so I knew that her only options at this point were grass pokemon. Knowing that, I released Ceto while Sheila released her Breloom. It was obvious, really, why she went with Thomas; his fighting subtype was only effective against Rufus, which meant that Sheila could take the next fight to scope out my next challenger.

Unfortunately for Sheila, Breloom are melee fighters and Ceto is a ranged fighter. I started off by yelling, "Agility, then Ice Beam!"

Ceto's speed increased dramatically, allowing her to move about as fast as the Breloom, who closed the distance between them quickly. When Thomas was close enough, he flung paralyzing spores at Ceto, who moved away quick enough to avoid them. Ceto then unleashed a powerful beam of ice with an icicle two inches wide at its vanguard. Thomas barely managed to dodge before flinging more spores, which managed to hit Ceto this time.

Ceto slowed down slightly at first, but she simply stopped and aimed an icy beam directly at Thomas's mushroom cap. Thomas was hit, the icicle spearing through and flash-freezing the area around it. Thomas was driven back, but he was close enough to shoot a few seed bombs at Ceto, who used her crown to block most of them. One happened to hit a bit low and impacted her chest, dealing minor damage.

Ceto then inhaled for a second icy beam, but Sheila recalled Thomas before he was hit by the beam. Ceto looked a little irritated that her knockout blow was subverted, but she waited patiently for her next opponent. Sheila mulled over her options for a few moments, and I knew what she was mulling over. It was time for her to unleash her starter, who was probably close to Ceto's adeptness at distance fighting.

True to my line of thinking, Kara appeared. Immediately, she projected potent spores at Ceto, who could not avoid them. I had Ceto start with a powerful ice beam, though, and Kara was struck in the abdomen, freezing much of the area.

Kara gave a pissed-off look before lifting her pink bouquet to the sky and using the other to create a whistling sound that reverberated off the wind. Before I knew it, I was wavering in and out of a delirious state while Ceto was affected worse. I was able to shake it off from my distance, but I noticed that Ceto was asleep while paralyzed with spores. I looked at Kara to see the icicle melting as a result of her photosynthesis, so I returned Ceto quickly and replaced her with Azrael.

I did not want her to heal completely, so I ordered Azrael to attack quickly. "Fiery Ace!" I yelled, and Azrael flung himself into the air, lifting himself up thirty feet with a single bound. With another flap of his wings, he angled himself into a swift dive which impacted the smaller bouquet-wielding nymph. His Aerial Ace technique only took about a second and half, and when he landed the blow, he immediately sent a stream of fire onto Kara.

Suddenly, Azrael was blown back by two simultaneous yellow-green beams. But he was only momentarily stunned, and he resumed his fight quickly. However, Kara aimed her red bouquet at him and sent a spray of black liquid into Azrael's face. Almost instantly, Azrael shuddered and coughed up black liquid, and it was then that I noticed poison spikes protruding from his feet.

I groaned as I remembered the same tactic she had used originally when we first fought. Azrael was poisoned and she had just used a technique that exacerbated the problem. Azrael did not have long left, so I yelled, "Rush and beam!"

Azrael's body almost warped forward as he suddenly rocketed towards Kara, hitting her with his full body weight and claws to send her flying. She hit the ground hard and struggled to get up, but Azrael was charging a hyper beam. Sheila saw that and recalled Kara. The hyper beam tore a large wound in the earth and blades of grass briefly caught fire before burning too quickly to spread.

Sheila was now down to two pokemon, and I readied myself for what I knew was coming. An enormous walrus-like pokemon appeared in front of Sheila. "Protect when it shoots I-" I yelled, but Wilbur had already released a large beam of ice at Azrael. Luckily, Azrael reacted soon enough to use his Protect technique to nullify the attack. "Rock Slide!" I ordered, and he lifted up several large boulders to fling at the Walrein.

Another icy beam erupted from Wilbur, but it was blocked by a boulder, which then smashed into him. I wasted no time ordering Azrael to close the distance with a Dragon Rush. Wilbur was hit by Azrael soon after being hit by the boulder, but after the collision, I saw Wilbur's tusk protruding from Azrael's thigh. Ice crystals dotted the wound and Azrael was heaved to the ground. The poison with which Kara had infected him weakened him, and combined with the strength of the Walrein and its debilitating ice attack, Azrael was forced to the ground.

Wilbur then raised his tusks into the air with an icy aura, and brought them down to hit nothing but air as I returned Azrael. I released Lazarus next and immediately ordered him to use Thunderbolt, which he used liberally. Bolt after bolt of lightning cracked through the air and hit the Walrein, but its hide was so thick that it nullified much of the electricity's effect.

Wilbur was also sending back his own attacks. He was throwing large rocks back, and Lazarus was only able to dodge so many. However, Lazarus won out. When Wilbur crumpled to the ground unconscious, Lazarus thumped his chest in victory. Sheila was now down to one - her damage soaker.

Lazarus's electricity would be useless against the Torterra that was released, so he was only limited to his Focus Blasts and Brick Breaks. But I did not want him getting too close, so I ordered him to stay at a distance and to use his focused blasts of energy. Lazarus was only able to issue two attacks before he was taken down by a set of earthquakes.

I was now down to one, but my last pokemon would not fail me. I saw victory lying before me as I released Gilles, who appeared with a cackle. "Stay at a distance! Hypnotize it!" I ordered, and Gilles did not disappoint. He dodged a large solar beam and put Geo to sleep. "Nightmare," I said, and Gilles disappeared.

The Torterra jerked back and forth in pain, blood leaking from its ears and nose… when suddenly my leg erupted in intense pain. It felt as if a Raticate were burrowing through my calf, and I quickly realized with dread what was happening. The problem was that all of my pokemon were unconscious except for Gilles, who was currently preoccupied.

I screamed and fell to the grass, clutching my burning ankle, but then my wrist erupted in the same pain, causing me roll over in agony. I could hardly hear someone yelling, but then the pain ceased. I heard the sound of shrieking and looked to see Gilles tearing into a larger, more menacing-looking Banette. It managed to hold Gilles off for a few seconds, but Gilles tore into it with shadowy claws, rending its ghostly fabric-skin into multiple pieces.

I sat up to see Geo standing in front of Sheila protectively and several electric pokemon standing in front of Sheila's family. "Ugh. Thanks, Gilles," I muttered as I stood up. I tested my weight on my leg and found no resistance, so I looked up and said, "Alright, back to the battle!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Not so fast!" declared Sheila's father. "Just what in Mesprit's ass was _that_?" he asked angrily.

"Long story…" I mumbled.

"Humor me," he ordered, his tone deadly serious. "Why was there a ghost trying to kill you at my house?"

"He's sorta being followed," Sheila piped in from across the field. "I just never saw it 'til now. That was horrifying."

"You're being followed by a ghost?" asked Mr. Farris, his tone never changing.

"Unfortunately, yeah," I said, scratching the back of my neck uncomfortably. "For a few months now, I've been having to deal with it whenever it comes back. I always do, though."

"Really? Is that why you were collapsed on the field just now? That's what you call handling it?"

"It usually gives me a few signs before it attacks, like messing with my dreams. And Gilles took care of it pretty efficiently," I explained, quickly going from a submissive tone to one of assurance.

"Well that's all beside the point. How did you even incur its wrath in the first place?" he asked.

"I don't know for sure," I replied. "But I might know, and it is not something I want to recount."

"Ghosts don't normally just decide to haunt things. I want to know what you did," he pressed.

"It's a long story. A personal one. I apologize if that is not enough for you, but it is for me," I said resolutely.

"It isn't enough," he replied. "You brought something here without telling us. Something dangerous."

"I am truly sorry, sir. I only need to deal with it very rarely, so I did not want to alarm you all for no reason. I can assure you now, though, that it won't be a problem again for as long as I'm here."

"You're damn sure it won't! How could you have looked me in the face and assured me that you could keep Sheila from harm when you can't even keep yourself from harm?" he asked angrily.

"With all due respect, sir, I'm still here," I said determinedly. "The ghost has not beaten me. My team grows in strength by the day, and until it interrupted our fight, I was within reach of victory."

"That remains to be seen," he replied. "And if it attacks you without warning now, how do you intend to fight it?"

"I have Rufus and I have Gilles. Most of the time one of them is at my side. And when I start having nightmares, I make a point of keeping them with me at all times," I replied.

"I don't like this one bit, Zachariah. I am tempted to ask you to leave my house immediately. And _you _knew about this, Sheila?" he yelled at his daughter, who only nodded. "And you still feel safe around him?" She nodded once again. "You better be damn sure, Sheila!" he finished. He gave me one more scathing look and stepped back, giving me the go-ahead to continue the fight.

Geo moved forward to meet Gilles, who flew up above and sent volley after volley of shadow balls at him. Within a couple minutes, Geo had fallen, unable to defeat Gilles. However, right before Geo had fallen, he surprised us by sending a particularly powerful solar beam which dealt a bit of damage to Gilles.

All in all, the end of the fight had been dampened by the Banette's interference. I felt proud that I had won, but my relationship, which I had been trying desperately to cultivate, was now strained and tense at best. I refrained from pushing Mr. Farris to uphold his bet, and instead tried to avoid him completely for the rest of the day.

I planned to apologize to him the next day, but until then, it was constant awkward silence. My only solace came with Sheila and her sister, whose perpetual cheerfulness had gone. I visited the Pokemon Center with them and talked with them while at their house, but my presence had become nearly unwelcomed. Dinner was eaten in silence and when it finished, I quickly and quietly went to bed.

Later that night, as I was tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, I heard a gentle tap at my door. Shortly thereafter, Sheila walked in quietly and sat down on the side of my bed, where I had sat up. "I couldn't sleep," she told me.

"Me neither," I replied. "Today's been… rough."

"You can say that," Sheila said. "I just wanted you to know that I don't think any worse of you for all that happened today. I knew that your team was strong, and I knew that most of my pokemon are weak to several of yours. As far as the ghost ordeal, it was scary, but Gilles was able to leave the fight, take care of it, _and _come back to win. I'm worried about it, but not so much that I'm afraid to be around you. Unfortunately it also showed me how hateful the spirit is. I'm sure you have your secrets, and I'm okay with that." She reached over and took my hand in hers.

"Thanks, Sheila…" I said, not looking her in the eye. "It was still a very tough fight. But I think I blew it with your family. Your father hates me now."

"I think you assume too much, Zachariah," Sheila said comfortingly, scooting closer. "But my daddy has always respected strength. The fact that you've been dealing with it for months and it hasn't killed you, the fact that you beat me, and the fact that you did not cave in under his reprimanding showed him that you aren't someone to be pushed around. Even if you are somewhat stubbornly defiant." She finished her sentence with a smile.

"I hope you're right," I said, feeling slightly better. "I don't think today could have been more awkward. I'm planning on apologizing to him tomorrow, after he's had time to calm down."

"That's not a bad idea," Sheila responded, and then kissed me lightly. "Goodnight, Zach." Then she left the room. It was not long after that I fell to sleep.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

I woke up early the next morning to find Sheila's household already up and about. Sheila's father was preparing to leave for his gym with a hardy breakfast when I approached him at the table. He had an open newspaper beside his plate and looked at me with scrutinizing eyes.

"Sir, I want to offer my most humble apology for causing so much trouble for you," I said sincerely. "It was wrong of me to take a chance that put your family in danger without informing you first."

"Sit down, Zachariah," he barked. I quickly followed his order and he said, "You're correct; you _should _have told us. It's done now, so there is no point in dwelling on it. What there _is_ left to dwell on is the prospect of my daughter spending time around you where the danger of a repeat is a certainty. Unfortunately, there is no chance that she would listen to me if I told her to stay away from you, even if it was until you solved your problem." He paused.

"So where do we go from here," I asked after a few moments. "I am taking steps to address my ghost problem, including having contacted a scholar at the Lavender Paranormal Research Center."

"The only fortune I see in this situation is that you seem to be a very capable trainer," he said with a sigh, interlacing his fingers. "However, what I told you before still applies. She is my baby girl and I don't take kindly to people who offer her more danger than peace."

"I understand, sir," I replied.

"Thank you for your apology," Mr. Farris said, though his tone still indicated his displeasure. "Regrettably, I have business to attend to in half an hour, but I believe I have a debt to repay. If you would follow me."

Mr. Farris led me to his study where he opened a glass case and took out an object. He then turned to me and opened his hand to reveal a yellow and black carved oval stone four inches long and two inches wide. "This is a thunderstone," he explained. "These stones are very special in that they can hold an electrical charge, but they lose the charge quickly.

"In order to evolve your Electabuzz, you will need to find one about this size and have your Electabuzz shock it with enough energy to essentially overload it. It takes an immense amount of power to do so, so you will need to train him more in that regard. Once he overloads the stone, its outer coat will shatter, leaving what we call an electrilizer. It is the overpowered core of large-enough thunderstone. Once he has created the electrilizer, he must swallow it. And don't try to use an actual bolt of lightning to do it; your Electabuzz must be able to control the power that will be released into his body. He must do it himself."

I listened raptly and when he finished, I thanked him. He replied, "Our bet is settled now. Take heed of what I said regarding Sheila. I don't give second chances." Then he motioned me out of the study and left for his gym.

I was elated that everything had gone so relatively well. It made me think, _Three pokemon left to evolve, and I know for certain how for one of them. Ceto I'm learning about gradually, and Gilles, well, I'm still in the dark about that. _I made a mental note to contact Professor Sharpe about Gilles' evolutionary method once I returned to Kanto. Gilles had been with me the longest without evolving, and now that he learned how to use Nightmare, I was sure that he was ready somehow. After all, it was a Haunter's most advanced known technique, so it just made sense that he would be ready to evolve.

I met up with Sheila in the lounge and relayed to her how well my talk with her father went. She conveyed her happiness with a warm smile and said, "That's a relief! I was hoping that I wouldn't need to leave on bad terms."

"I know," I said with a sigh of relief. "…Wait, what do you mean?" I asked, noticing that she had said 'I'.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" she asked. "I'm coming back with you."

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979**

**Pokemon in Possession: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

Lazarus – Electabuzz

**Expert Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457E**

**Active Pokemon: **

Kara – Roserade

Larry – Ampharos

Shade – Gardevoir

Wilbur – Walrein

Thomas – Breloom

Geo – Torterra

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I'm sorry for the wait, but I have started a new internship which takes up a lot of my time nowadays. My next updates will probably be farther between, but I intend to keep writing. As for this chapter, it was a very long one compared to my average chapter length. I did not want to split up the chapter into two parts, just like with the JIC chapter, so I kept it to one. Well, lots happened here, so I hope you enjoyed it! Review and let me know what you think!


	24. Chapter 24: Full Circle

Chapter 24

"Calm down! It's not that bad!" scorned Elaina. Once again, I was confined to a rigid cramped seat and gripping the armrests with the strength of Trapinch jaws. Before I knew it, the plane plummeted to the ground, cutting through the screaming air. I braced myself for the inevitable disastrous impact, only to be slightly jarred as the aircraft touched down relatively gently. "See? Not that bad," repeated Elaina, earning her a scowl.

"Remind me never to get on a plane with you again," I said curtly with resentment, my knuckles white from gripping so firmly.

We had finally arrived back in Viridian City. The plane ride was just as nerve-wracking on the return trip, and was further exacerbated by Elaina's constant playfulness at my expense. And whenever I looked to Sheila for support, she would only giggle and shrug, choosing to stay out of it to my chagrin. Until, that is, she fell asleep 30 minutes in and ignored me thereafter.

Elaina's jibes had put me in a foul mood by the time we landed, and I hurried to the exit as soon as I could escape with no regard for the Farris sisters. Both Sheila and her sister caught up to me at the pokemon security desk, but by that time I was finishing up.

"Before you run off again," Sheila interjected as I made a move for the door, "Let's figure out what we're doing."

I obliged and said after a moment of thought, "Why don't you come over to my parents' house for dinner tonight? I'm sure my parents would like to see you again, and I'm sure they would like to hear from you how your battle went. You're welcome to come as well, Elaina." As much as I wanted to escape from Elaina's insufferably perky and trollish character, good manners and hospitality dictated that I extend the invitation to her as well.

"As much as I would like that," she responded. "I have a husband whom I haven't seen in over a week. He'll probably have made a new home on the couch in his underwear," She laughed.

Sheila laughed as well before saying enthusiastically, "That sounds great!"

I looked at the nearest clock, which showed 3:45 P.M., and said, "How about you meet me at my parents' house at six? I will let my parents know to expect you."

"Sounds good," Sheila said before I hurried out of the airport, whereupon I was hit in the face by a gale of icy air. I released Rufus immediately and ran my hand through his warm fur as we headed home.

When we arrived, I was warmly greeted by my mother who led me inside to an almost-bare skeleton of a house. All that remained in the house was a few items of furniture, a dining room table, and cooking supplies. A quick stop by my old room revealed only a bed remaining.

"The workers are putting the final touches on the house now. We already started moving stuff over even though it won't be fully completed for another month. Though we will be able to move over in a week or so," my mother explained.

"That's great!" I said.

"It really is," she replied. "The house isn't as grand as our last, but it is magnificent in its own way. It's two stories, has a basement, a wonderful yard, and it's right next to the horses. It's perfect." She paused and then said with an appreciative smile, "You know, I don't think a lot of this would have happened if you hadn't bought back Ray's land and pushed us." She hugged me gratefully and continued, "Your father might not say it – he's more pride than an Arcanine, and he's as stubborn as one to boot – but he's grateful as well."

My cheeks stung a little as I suppressed an emotional reaction and my mother released the hug. "And speaking of your father," she said, clearing her throat in an effort to compose herself, "He will be home in about an hour. I left early to meet you here and to get dinner started, since I'm sure you're hungry from the flight."

"Thank you. And speaking of dinner, mother," I added. "You wouldn't mind if Sheila joined us, would you?"

"Of course not," my mother said happily. "The house isn't entirely welcoming, but we would be happy to have her. What time will she be over?"

"I told her to be here at six o'clock," I told her.

"Wonderful, dinner will be ready by then. I'm making steaks."

With that, I went outside and released my pokemon in the backyard.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

"So, Sheila, how did your battle go?" asked my mother, lifting a piece of broccoli on her fork.

"It went well!" Sheila responded enthusiastically. "Of course, it helped that most of my team was strong against the gym type."

"That is good," my mother continued, but my father cut in.

"Tell us about the battle, if you would kindly," he asked while sawing a piece off of his steak.

Sheila laughed and spent the following twenty minutes explaining her battle in great detail while my parents drank wine and listened raptly. After she finished, my parents congratulated her excitedly. Sheila then said, "…But then Zachariah beat me a couple days later."

My parents each gave signs of surprise and my father said, "Sheila brought you there to watch her battle and you challenged her?" he asked with disapproval.

I raised my hands in defense, dropping my fork with _clink_, and saw Sheila giving a mischievous grin. "It wasn't like that. Sheila's father wanted to see us battle, and Sheila agreed to it. I never even considered challenging her in Hoenn," I quickly explained.

"Oh, so you were planning on fighting her eventually anyway?" asked my mother.

"Well, yeah," I responded. "She was the first person to beat me. Eventually I was going to challenge her again."

"Honestly, I was expecting a challenge at some point," chimed in Sheila after eating a piece of broccoli. "It did not come as a surprise, and my father _did_ set up the fight between us." There was a brief silence before Sheila changed the subject again. "So, it looks like you are on your way out of this house."

"Yes we are. In a month's time, we will be all moved out to the estate," replied my father. "The divisions in the PokeWall are also nearly complete. Everything is just about ready for us to jump in and hit the ground running." I took the opportunity to finish the food on my plate while the attention was focused away from me.

"That sounds exciting!" Sheila exclaimed.

My parents nodded. Then, my mother asked, "So Sheila, what are your plans now that you've finished earning Hoenn's badges?"

"Well," said Sheila quickly, as if she had already thought about it at length. "I intend to finish the Kanto Pokemon League. I'm going to stick with Zach until he beats the Viridian Gym, though."

"Well that certainly makes us feel a bit better," my mother replied, eliciting a nod from my father, who was wiping his mouth with his napkin. "And what about you, Zach? What are your plans?"

"I haven't really thought much farther than training for the Viridian Gym," I said in contemplation. "I have considered taking on a different league such as Johto… but that may not be a good idea. I've considered searching for Houndoom and Houndour, and taking some time off to train them here. I've also considered the ACE Trainer Corps, but I haven't made a decision on that yet."

"ACE…" my mother said with a look of concern.

"And why wouldn't Johto be a good idea?" asked my father.

"Uh-" I stuttered, realizing that I might have said too much. "Just because I don't know how long I would spend there, and I would be far from home."

"You're… worried about being too far from home?" asked my father with a look of confusion on his face.

"Right," I said slowly. "After all, how am I going to contribute to the Infernal Competitors if I'm so far away?"

"Huh, well I'm glad that it is a consideration to you…" replied my father, seemingly not convinced. I did not enjoy lying to them, but the issue was dropped, gaining me a welcomed respite. Sheila, I noticed, seemed to be looking at me quizzically as well. With an awkward smile, I commented on how satisfying the meal was, and the previous conversation was promptly forgotten.

Later that evening, in the cold dimness of the approaching winter night, Sheila and I spoke of our immediate plans in the back yard with our pokemon. Sheila told me that she was going to stick with me for the time being. I established that I wanted to stop by BioTech before we left, and that I wanted to spend at least one month training for Viridian. I also wanted to spend that time in a challenging environment - preferably the off-route wilderness outside of Pallet Town.

As much as I wanted to return to the Milotic's lake, it was beyond the border (I did not want another incident with the ACE's) and I did not want to take the liberty of infringing on the Milotic's hospitality by bringing Sheila with me. Instead, I decided to travel to the smaller lake which was on the way to the Milotic's lake.

"Still the same old Zach - traveling to the middle of the wilderness to put himself in danger simply to train," Sheila reflected, giving me a laugh.

"Of course!" I replied enthusiastically. "And as for when we'll leave, I'm thinking tomorrow at noon. We could eat lunch and then teleport to Pallet Town. Then, if we fly quickly, we could reach our destination before sundown."

"Oh, so you know where you're going? That's a welcome change from just getting yourself lost," Sheila said with a laugh. "I would say this is somewhat short notice, but I'm honestly not surprised."

I laughed. "I've spent enough time relaxing. I'm getting lazy."

"Ha! You, lazy?" Sheila quipped.

I rolled my eyes. Of course I would never let myself grow lazy. I hardly needed to respond, and Sheila only laughed when I remained silent. All that was left was to tell my parents.

Seeing that it was growing late, I sent an email to Professor Sharpe at the Lavender Paranormal Research Center. Then I walked Sheila home, bade her goodnight, and returned home to rest for the following day's travels.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

To reach Pallet Town, it took Dante five separate teleports but Shade only one. From there, we strapped our belongings to Azrael's flanks and took our places in the single-seat saddle.

Once again, I was very aware of Sheila's positioning in my lap. She leaned back into me initially as the saddle molded to our forms and grabbed my legs for support. Her back pressed into my chest and her perpetual citrus aroma wafted to my senses. The combination of her stimuli was arousing, so I wasted no time in commanding Azrael to take to the sky. As soon as I finished the command, Sheila reached forward and clutched the handholds, providing me some relief from my awakened libido.

Azrael surged upwards at such a rapid rate, which only revealed how much he enjoyed listening to Sheila's frightened screams. I was laughing and Azrael was rumbling when we finally leveled out, at which point Sheila's cries had died down.

"I believe this is a perfect example of karma," I said after I stopped laughing. "You don't seem as relaxed as you were on the plane!"

"Sh-shut up!" Sheila exclaimed, breathing rapidly. I giggled sadistically at Sheila's expense and leaned back in the saddle. Thirty minutes later, she finally relaxed (or decided to let my jibes go) and leaned back into me. I felt the now-familiar feeling of my heartbeat speeding up and my breathing becoming shallow.

"S-so," I asked, trying to focus on something else. "How was Kara able to use Solar Beam without direct contact with the sun?"

"I was wondering when you were going to ask," she said. "I'll tell you, but only if you tell me something in return."

"Okay…" I said hesitantly. "What do you want to know?"

"After I tell you. Promise?" she said shortly.

"I don't like where this is going, but why not?" I said back.

"Fantastic! Well here is how," she explained. "The solar beam is a release of energy gathered from the rays of the sun. The rays that the sun gives off are heat and light, both of which are the sources of energy. When you realize that, what becomes obvious?"

I thought for a few minutes before saying, "…The sun isn't necessary…"

"Correct!" she said excitedly. "The sun is only a very convenient source. Heat and/or light are all that is required. As long as other sources of heat or light are available, producing a solar beam can be done. Just keep in mind that the beam may not be as powerful, or it may not power up as quickly if the source is not as intense."

"Wow…" I replied thinking over the new information. "I can't believe _you_ could figure that out!" I said in jest.

"What is _that _supposed to mean," Sheila said, sounding hurt.

"Only that it is a really intelligent conclusion," I continued.

"And _I'm _not intelligent enough to come figure it out?" she said, insulted.

"I never said that," I laughed. Hearing her tone growing more hurt and insulted, though, made me pull back the jokes. "And I was just kidding with you. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Sheila said quickly. "I never knew you as someone who would back down so easily."

I gawked from behind her. "So-" I stammered.

"I knew you were just being a turd," Sheila snapped. "I'm not such a weak little girl who can't take a joke."

"Right," I said, my face growing hot. "…Never thought you were"

"Uh-huh," she replied.

"So… What did you want to know?" I asked.

"Smooth move. Well…" she trailed off. Then she paused for a minute. "…Why did you lie to your parents about Johto? What were you keeping from them?"

I was quiet for a long time.

"Will you not tell me?" Sheila asked eventually.

I was silent for a few more moments. "Johto is… well… The most I will say, which is more than I should, is that the Johto military may have been conspiring with the Meteors."

"What!?" Sheila exclaimed. "Why would they do that?"

"I can't say more. Though I don't know much more anyway," I said quickly.

"…What is wrong with the world?" she asked rhetorically.

"Too much," I responded.

It took almost a full hour for us to start talking about something else. By that time, Pallet Town was far behind us and the vast forests south of Mount Silver stretched from horizon to horizon. Azrael flew at a comfortable pace and we arrived at the small lake after a couple more hours.

Like the Milotic's lake, ice covered the outskirts of this smaller lake but not the center, the woods stretched on in every direction, and snow covered everything. When we landed, we immediately started making camp while I instructed many of my pokemon to bring back firewood from the forest. I kept Ceto close by in the lake to keep watch, and Sheila also released Wilbur, her Walrein, into the lake.

Our camp was set and a fire was started before the sun began to set, at which point I addressed my team. "Everyone, this is the home stretch for the final gym. Once we beat this gym, we will be able to take on the best trainers in the country! We have a long way to go, still, but for now, we will focus on preparing for a ground-based gym."

My pokemon showed signs of restlessness as I spoke. "For the next month, Rufus, you will be working on Solar Beam. Azrael, you will be working on aerial combat. Gilles, you will be working on Energy Ball and hypnotism. Ceto, you will be working on your water storage efficiency and our new move that I bought at BioTech. Dante, you will be working on Leaf Blade. And Lazarus, you will be working on making your attacks more powerful.

"Along with what I just said, we will all be working on our protective abilities. We will be learning how to avoid ground-based attacks, which Azrael and maybe even Sheila's Torterra will provide. Furthermore, we will be working on speed and reflexes, both of which will help you block your opponents' attacks. With the exception of Lazarus, everyone here is good on attack power for now."

My pokemon listened attentively. "For tonight, we will have a session before we go to bed, and then we will go hunting." With that said, my pokemon grunted, squeaked, and growled in excitement. For that night's session, I had my team clear out a small area of foliage to create a clearing in which we would practice for the remainder of our stay. Using their various abilities, trees were felled and chopped into firewood blocks, bushes were burned to ash, and roots were torn out of the ground.

In the process, multiple rodent pokemon were uncovered, which immediately attacked. They were either eaten, saved for dinner later, or allowed to escape if they were quick enough to do so.

That night, the first of our month-long training venture, I noticed that Sheila and her grass-type pokemon were more lethargic than normal. My guess was that, like Azrael, they were very uncomfortable in climates which embodied their natural weaknesses.

I first noticed Sheila's tent right beside the fire, despite the obvious hazards that its proximity posed. Next, long after we had gone to our separate tents for the night, I heard Sheila's voice say, "Z-Zach?"

"Yeah?" I responded.

"I d-don't s-suppose you would mind if I c-could stay w-with you and R-Rufus t-tonight?" she asked, audibly straining. Rufus lay next to me, his body heat offering a pleasant respite from the bleak cold.

It made sense that Sheila was cold, though. She no longer had a fire pokemon to keep her warm during the winter, and she had been spending her time in a tropical climate up until now. Out of empathy for her, I said, "I don't mind."

"Th-thank y-you!" I heard before the sounds of her tent rustling echoed in the silent night air. I heard her tent zipper jingle and then I confusedly listened to a mysterious _thump, thump, thump. _Seconds later, my tent's zipper flew down its gap and Sheila appeared in the opening wrapped in her sleeping bag. She hopped forward, making the rhythmic thumping that I had heard muffled before.

However, as she hopped into the tent, her feet caught something below her and she fell forward with a surprised yelp. She landed half on Rufus and half on my legs, causing Rufus to yelp in surprise and me to flinch. Gilles' cackling rang out in the night and the otariine roar of Sheila's Walrein sounded from the lake.

I quickly helped Sheila into the tent while she yelled, "G-Gilles! I-If I c-could only g-grab your neck! W-Wilbur, I'm f-fine! And I-m s-sorry R-Rufus." I laughed with Gilles and Sheila said vindictively, "Y-You've r-r-really got to stop encouraging him."

In the cold of the night, I only had Gilles, Rufus, and Ceto out of their pokeballs, and Sheila only had Wilbur. Our other pokemon were either too weak to the freezing temperature or unnecessarily uncomfortable. Rufus groaned and repositioned himself as I zipped the tent flap shut. The inside had dropped in temperature since Sheila had exposed it to the outside, but it quickly warmed up again.

However, it was not quick enough for Sheila. While in her separate sleeping bag, she snuggled up close to me and put her head on my side. Her body temperature slowly warmed as we lay there unmoving. Eventually, the quiet night consumed us and we fell asleep.

I was awakened the next morning to Sheila cursing the cold air and snuggling closer to me. When she saw that she had awoken me, she apologized.

"Is it just me, or are you particularly cold this year?" I inquired.

"I don't know… It feels to me like the weather is particularly cold," she replied.

"Huh," I commented. "It doesn't feel any different than normal. It's only…" I grabbed my PokeDex nearby and read the temperature. "Two degrees."

"Only?" Sheila asked bitterly.

"Yeah. It was hardly any different last year when you traveled with me," I said.

"Huh. Not sure why, then," she said as she snuggled even closer.

"Well, it might be because of the weather in Hoenn, but that doesn't explain why you were more comfortable last year," I contemplated.

"You're kinda thick, aren't you," Sheila said with a giggle.

Realization dawned on me and I felt stupid. "…Oh."

Sheila only laughed. "Well, to be honest, I've always preferred warmer weather. However, I think this is nice," she said as she pressed in to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She looked into my hazel eyes with her dark green ones and then…

Suddenly a loud roar broke the silence. Sheila and I jolted up and I quickly unzipped the opening flap of the tent to find Ceto riding a wave clear on the other side of the lake towards us. Wilbur's head was sticking up from the shallow end of the lake closest to us, and just in front of him was a larger head sticking out of the water with two metallic tube-like barrels protruding from the water on either side.

"Shit!" I swore, instantly identifying the Blastoise. "Sheila, get your pokemon!" I dropped the sleeping bag from around me and grabbed my bandolier with my pokeballs, taking one from it. In the meantime, I heard a loud crash and then the sound of something large hitting the ground. Sheila had procured her pokeballs from inside of her sleeping bag and was taking one out as well.

In just a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, I left my tent and observed the situation to find the Blastoise no longer in the water. It was wedged between a large break in a two-and-a-half-foot-wide tree trunk, completely encased in its monstrous shell. Wilbur was on his back on the shore and rolling over to his feet, and Ceto was on her way back to us, but she was still a long way off.

The Blastoise emerged from its shell and stood up on its hind legs, making it easily eight feet tall. It then turned to face us. Ceto had made it half the distance from the middle of the lake, but as she sped along on her wave, she was blasted into the water by several collisions from smaller turtles and whip-like tendrils of water.

In the meantime, Rufus was snarling at the gargantuan turtle and Gilles had appeared with a shadow ball attack. The Blastoise looked at Rufus, lethargically lowered its shoulder cannon, and fired a concentrated burst of water. The pressurized water struck Rufus in the chest and he was flung back several yards onto his side.

I released Lazarus while Sheila released Kara and Larry, and then I turned my attention to Ceto. Ceto was being swarmed by smaller turtles – some four feet tall and others around two feet tall – biting, body slamming, and whipping her with watery tails. "Gilles, go help Ceto! Energy balls and shadow balls!" I ordered. Then I looked to Lazarus and yelled, "Charge-Beam!"

Lazarus hissed and emitted a beam of electricity at the Blastoise while Kara flung spores at it and Larry's tail charged. As soon as Lazarus's beam of electricity hit the Blastoise, its eyes widened in pain and it fell forward onto all-fours. It spun itself around violently and withdrew into its shell. It then used its shoulder cannons to propel itself towards Lazarus like an oversized tank shell.

It collided with the area which Lazarus had previously been occupying and continued on to hit a tree, shattering its base and causing it to fall over. I returned Rufus and sent out Azrael, finding it difficult to focus on two battles with multiple pokemon at once. It was difficult enough that I could not focus on Sheila or her commands to her own pokemon. I simply saw Wilbur swimming to Ceto and joining her in the fight against the Squirtle and Wartortle.

While Wilbur joined Ceto's fight, Larry blasted the gargantuan turtle on land with an overcharged bolt of lightning. "Stay in front of me, Azrael. Use hyper beam," I ordered. "Lazarus, continue your attack."

Sheila must have heard my orders and planned accordingly because, all at the same time, Azrael released a hyper beam, Lazarus released a powered-up thunderbolt, and Kara released a solar beam. The three attacks struck the Blastoise and it faltered with parts of its shell chipped and steaming. It was still on the snowy ground, but it was breathing heavily, so I took out an empty Greatball and flung it at the beast.

While the Blastoise disappeared into the ball, I looked out over the lake to see a bedlam of splashing and thrashing. The water was stained red and Gilles was hovering above the water holding a turtle's bloody stump of an arm or leg. He was cackling while sending small emerald spheres of energy crashing into nearby turtles.

I could make out Wilbur's blubbery form wreaking havoc, but I could not see Ceto. Suddenly, my attention was forced back to the beach as the Blastoise burst from the Greatball. It was sufficiently pissed off and eyed me with rage. It once again spun itself rapidly and shot forward – this time towards me. My towering guardian dragon moved to intercept it, but I yelled, "Protect!"

Azrael braced himself and a barrier shimmered around him as the Blastoise collided with him. Azrael was driven backwards towards me but he was unharmed. Soon after, another bolt of lightning from Larry struck the Blastoise and forced it down into the snow. I threw a normal pokeball at the creature and looked for Ceto once the large creature disappeared.

At that moment, Ceto burst from the lake on a chute of water towards the shore. She landed close by and I noticed deep bite marks all over her body, most of which were concentrated on her tail. Without hesitation and with a pang of pity, I returned her to her pokeball since I was worried about her.

The Blastoise burst again from the ball but remained still on the ground, so I threw another normal pokeball at it. Once again, it broke out, but the delay between its capture and its release grew longer. I realized then how much strength it required to fight off multiple pokeballs' digitalization, and that it became progressively more difficult for a pokemon to stave off capture.

I ended up throwing another ordinary pokeball and a Greatball before I finally caught the beast, during which time I directed Azrael to help Wilbur and Gilles with the swarm of smaller turtles. Sheila also ordered Shade to teleport over to assist them. They all made quick work of the hostile turtles who were brave enough to stay and fight after their leader had been captured.

The clamor died down and I found myself standing next to Sheila. "Well, that was intense," commented Sheila.

"No kidding," I said, my heartrate still faster than normal. "I think I'm awake now."

"So, a Blastoise, huh?" Sheila asked with a laugh. "I think that fight would have been much harder without you here to help."

"Same," I replied with a smile. "We make a good team."

"I agree!" exclaimed Sheila. "It was hardly a challenge with both of us." She held up a palm and I gave her a high-five.

"You know, I bet this lake was the Blastoise's territory. The other turtles must have been its progeny."

"I think you're right, Zach," Sheila responded. She looked at me with a smile and then looked at my clothes. At that moment, my heartrate had slowed and the adrenaline rushing through my veins had worn off, leaving me shivering in the frigid temperature. Sheila giggled as I visually shuddered and jumped into my tent to change clothing.

When I emerged with my heavy jacket and pants on, Sheila was sitting on a log next to the fire pit wearing heavier clothes as well. I took out Rufus's pokeball and found out that he had a couple broken ribs from the Blastoise's hydro pump. I also checked Ceto's ball and found that she had sustained several eviscerations on her body. I sighed and said, "I think we are going to need to go back to Pallet for the Pokemon Center."

"If so, better sooner rather than later," responded Sheila. "Let's head out. I don't think anyone will be coming around here, so we can leave our supplies."

I nodded and called Azrael over, where I prepared him for flight. Sheila told me that she would take Shade, so I was able to reach Pallet Town more quickly due to the fact that Azrael was carrying less weight. When I arrived in Pallet, I admitted my pokemon for medical treatment and found Sheila waiting for me. I also found a message waiting for me on my PokeDex, which had come through as soon as I was in range of the radio towers.

I checked my message as soon as I sat down next to Sheila. It read,

_Mr. MacAfee,_

_I hope you are doing well and on your way to figuring out a solution to your Banette problem. I received your email regarding a Haunter's evolutionary catalyst, but unfortunately, though the research center does have records of a Gengar's creation, those records are restricted to league officials on a need-to-know basis. I apologize that I can be of no use to you in this matter, but you can be sure that there is a good reason for the records being classified. Please let me know if you find out more about dealing with the Banette. By now you should have realized that Banette grow stronger as they are repeatedly killed. Be further warned that they do not stop growing stronger. I wish that there was more I could do to help you, but, regrettably, there is not. Best of luck! –Dr. Sharpe_

I sighed with exasperation to once again find the professor's help less than satisfactory. I turned my attention then to the television in the hope that I would find something more satisfying. A reporter was announcing the impending execution of around 30 Meteors who had been found and arrested in the last month.

"Serves those monsters right," I spat.

"I think it's pretty terrible," commented Sheila. "The Meteors are broken up. The members need to answer for their crimes, but I think execution is a little much."

"I don't think so. They all deserve to die and rot in the ground," I said ruthlessly.

I felt Sheila looking at me from beside me, but she did not respond.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

We spent the night in warm beds and returned to the lake the next morning. When we arrived, I immediately started practice. At its end, I was wiping sweat off my brow when Sheila remarked, "I think it's great that you still practice with your pokemon."

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Yeah. I don't see many people do that," she said.

"Do you see a lot of people train?" I asked.

"Well, I did back in Hoenn. When I left school, I traveled with a big group until I came to Kanto, so I got to see how they trained. None of them actually ran sprints with their teams or acted as weights on their backs."

"I don't suppose Jeremy was part of the group?" I asked.

"Actually, he was. He never gave up trying to get me back… So stubborn. He even tried to get back together over email once I returned to the Hoenn League, but I never acknowledged him," she told me.

"Huh… So did you travel with anyone when you got back?" I asked.

"I teamed up with a group of three other girls. One didn't get past the fifth gym. The other two got hung up at the seventh. From what I understand, they are still trying to beat it."

"And I take it none of them train with their pokemon?" I asked.

"Nope," she said. "Although, Cheryl and Marion – the two who made it to the seventh gym – worked out while their teams trained."

"I see," I said. "Do you normally train with your team?" I asked, since Sheila had not practiced with me in a long time and had passed on training during my first practice at the lake.

"Normally I exercise while directing their training," Sheila responded. "But I don't like doing most of that when it's so cold out."

I will admit that the cold weather made working out more inconvenient than usual. Like the previous year, I needed to dress in multiple layers of clothing and drink much hot water to stave off hypothermia and illness. Washing my clothing to get rid of the stench of dried sweat and grime was much more difficult as well since I had to hang the clothing near the fire to prevent them from freezing. However, I still stubbornly trained with my pokemon because I felt that it was only fair to do so.

Luckily, the temperature started rising towards the end of March. My plan was to head home at the beginning of April, so my training would take me past the end of winter. Sheila continued to sleep in my tent during that time for the shared benefit of Rufus's heat, and while she did, our physical relationship progressed at a fairly slow pace. Due to my inexperience, I was exceedingly hesitant to try anything courageous on that front.

However, after three weeks of training had passed, during which time I needed to return to Pallet once more for falling ill to the cold weather, I found myself in a situation which disregarded any previous rules of propriety. The weather had been getting warmer – warm enough that snow no longer fell – but it would still dip below freezing at night. One day, while it was about 38 degrees, it rained.

Sheila and I were training about a mile from camp with our teams when a storm front rolled in, and all of a sudden, it started pouring. In the time it took us to respond, gather our pokemon and teleport back to camp, we were drenched in nearly freezing water. Shivering, we both entered my tent with Rufus, but he could only heat up the tent so fast – and only become so warm, for that matter – for fear of setting the tent on fire or burning our possessions. So we huddled together shivering in our drenched clothes.

It did not take long for both of us to realize that continuing to wear the wet clothes was a bad idea, and we were already showing signs of the onset of hypothermia. The only logical thing to do was to rid ourselves of our clothing, except for our underwear, and use each other's body heat to warm ourselves more quickly. Having never been half naked with Sheila before, or any girl for that matter, I embarrassedly pressed my back against hers and pulled my sleeping bag up to my shoulders.

Despite our backs warming each other and Rufus's body heat slowly raising the temperature, our core temperatures were still low, causing us to shudder uncontrollably. "Okay, I c-can't s-stand it anymore!" exclaimed Sheila after a few minutes. "Come here!" She twisted around, lifted her sleeping bag over both of us, and pulled me into a tight embrace. It allowed more of our bodies to be in contact, and therefore share more heat.

Of course I went along with it despite being uncomfortable with our clothing-less situation. Over the past few weeks, the allure of being physically close to Sheila had been growing rapidly, so my desire to do so at that moment was more important than my nervousness of being half-naked and pressed against her.

We clutched each other for what seemed like hours until we no longer shivered uncontrollably. At some point, while the rain sang a melodious, trancelike song on the top of my tent, Sheila quietly asked, "Zach?"

"Mhm?" I answered.

"Why do you hate the Meteors so much?" she asked hesitantly.

"Besides the fact that they are murderous monsters who use terrorism to kill innocent people?" I dodged, instantly defensive.

Sheila did not buy it. "I think it's more than that, Zach… You have such _hatred_ in your eyes when you talk about them."

Clinging half-naked to Sheila, though subconsciously exciting, had made me feel incredibly vulnerable, so Sheila's choice to bring up that subject only heightened that feeling. I immediately grew anxious as memories of Nicole, Prescott, Lazarus's previous trainer, and my second grisly encounter with the Meteors filled my thoughts. _What would she think of me, knowing that I had done such horrible things? Even if I felt my actions were justified, she would HATE me for doing it! I can't bear to see her look at me with such disappointment, or worse, _fear_. She can't know. _

Sheila must have felt me nearly hyperventilating because she quickly said, "It's alright if you don't want to talk about it, but I'm here if you ever do."

Her words were somewhat comforting to hear, but I had to actively, consciously regulate my breathing and my emotions. I did not want Sheila to hate me. I knew that she suspected _something_, but she was kind enough not to press me on it. Instead, she hugged me tighter as if she understood that I carried a dark burden.

The dreamlike _pat pat pat _of rain and the more-than-physical warmth that I felt from Sheila allowed my anxiety to recede. After a long period, I fell content in her arms. When I subconsciously held her slightly tighter to feel her against me, she leaned up and kissed me. I felt a fiery rush of passion and returned the kiss with youthful vigor. Sheila responded to my burst of passion with a gasp and compounded on my escalation, molding her body to mine.

With my arms wrapped around Sheila, I traced my fingers along her back, feeling her every contour and muscle. All the while, her hands clutched the back of my head and pulled lightly on my hair as her tongue danced with mine. Before I knew it, we were both lying entangled in a mess of sleeping bags, trying desperately to bring ourselves closer to each other despite being pressed together. My insecurities and my prior torments faded into a heavenly blur of sensual exploration which distorted my sense of time to leave me with hardly an idea as to how long it had lasted.

It was in those blissful, transient flashes of time that I was able to disregard my worries. But more importantly, I allowed myself to take pleasure in the purity and flawlessness of my growing, unrivaled affection for Sheila. I rarely felt the kind of happiness that filled me when we simply fell asleep in one another's arms. However, after the passion had died down, while the rain persisted in maintaining its dreamlike reverie, one guilty thought nagged the farthest reaches of my consciousness: _She would hate me._

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

I only needed to return to Pallet once more during the next two weeks, making the total amount of trips I made to Pallet three. The last time was because I actually received a challenge from a pokemon trainer who happened to be passing through. During the battle, Dante injured his shoulder and Lazarus injured his arm.

During that last visit to Pallet, I received another message - this time from Aoro. It said:

_Zachariah, how are you? I haven't gotten a message from you in a while so I'm checking to make sure you're not dead! Given that you haven't emailed me, I assume you haven't challenged Pierce yet. And if you have without telling me, then I'll kill you! Anyway, I hope you are still improving and that you will let me know as soon as you can about when you will be challenging Pierce. I can't wait to hear from you! –Aoro._

I quickly replied that I had not forgotten about him and that I would let him know when my next challenge would be as soon as I returned to Viridian in about a week. Then, I wasted no time in getting back to camp.

On the first day of April, I assessed the progress we had made over the five weeks. As far as I could tell, my team was entering the notorious Point of Ambiguity. The Point of Ambiguity, as referred to by League scientists, is the point where a pokemon's level matters less than its actual competency. I knew my team had reached that point because, over the five weeks of training, only a few of them actually leveled up, but I could easily see that their skills had increased significantly.

I watched Rufus improve to the point that he could effectively use solar beam. His dark melding had progressed to the point where an entirely new dimension of his fighting capabilities had unlocked. Azrael, through constant utilization of his ground techniques to train the rest of my team, had seen a rise in the strength of those attacks as well as a noticeable increase in stamina.

Gilles had adapted his energy ball technique to efficiently draw from energy within the minerals in the earth, and he practiced his nightmare ability on every unlucky creature he preyed on to make the technique more lethal. Ceto had conditioned her body to store and compress more water, use her retained water more efficiently, and added a new tactic to her fighting style.

Dante saw a more holistic improvement. His attacks grew in strength and speed, his ability to predict enemies' attacks grew more acute, his defense improved, and his teleportation skills strengthened. Lastly, with the help of Larry, the power behind Lazarus's attacks grew marginally. As a whole, in addition to their individual improvements, they all built upon their protective and defensive abilities.

Furthermore, having a training partner as competent as Sheila allowed us to improve in other ways. We both agreed that, having trained under gym leaders, we each had valuable expertise that could only make us better so it was logical for us to share our experiences.

I taught Sheila about deflection, toughness, and quickness, using some of Aoro's rugged training techniques to her chagrin. Sheila taught me about reflexes and efficiency. She had learned from her father that pokemon need to control their exertions so that they release the largest quantities of energy with the least amount of effort, that they do so in controlled bursts, and that they deceive opponents into false senses of advantage. She told me that during that false sense of confidence is one of the most devastating times to attack. After learning from her, I realized that she had used the tactic on me during our battle to great effect.

Because of Sheila's influence, my training regimen evolved, and because of my influence, hers did as well. I never felt more confident in my team when I decided that it was time to leave for Viridian. Instead of using Shade to teleport her to Viridian, Sheila joined me in Azrael's saddle for the journey home. It took us the better part of the day to reach my parents' home, where I found a vacant house and a "for sale" sign stuck in the grass.

Realization dawned on me and I excitedly headed to the infernal breeding grounds. There, I found landscaping crews terraforming the area around a large concrete and stone house. We might have scared the workers a little as we descended upon Azrael… but my father's happy reception of me soon after allayed most of their fears.

After touring the house, which had two floors and a basement, I registered my challenge to the Viridian City Gym on my PokeDex and notified Aoro and few people. Then, I went to work settling in somewhat. All of my possessions were boxed up because my parents wanted me to choose a room, so I quickly picked one of two rooms in the basement.

It seemed like everything was in place for me to challenge the gym, so I relaxed with Sheila and my parents, and we watched LeagueWatch. Apparently, it did not take long for word of my challenge to spread, because an anchor announced, "We're now getting some information in from the registry, and it's a moment you all have been waiting for, folks! Zachariah MacAfee, last year's Junior Indigo champion and undefeated trainer in the circuit, has issued his challenge to the Viridian Gym! His first match will take place on Tuesday, April 4th, which is only two days away, at noon. So come out and see him! You might get a chance to see the massive Garchomp, Azrael; the terrifying Haunter, Gilles; the…"

The reporter's voice grew distant as I leaned into the back of the couch and absentmindedly rubbed Rufus's fur. As far as I was concerned, I had made it back to Viridian and victory awaited me.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Even though I was aware of the small bit of fame that I had accrued, I was not prepared for reception that awaited me. I had arrived at the gym 30 minutes before my match to find a large crowd of people waiting for me at the front of the gym.

The gym itself is situated in the center of a large clearing, far from any other structure. The seismic activity that comes from the gym is a hazard to the foundation of any nearby building, so by city ordinance, none are allowed to be built near it. The top of the gym is also covered by a thick, transparent plastic polymer ceiling to allow sunlight in. The people showered me, Rufus, and Dante, whom I had brought alongside me, with cheers. All I could do was humbly accept them and make my way inside the building, where I entered the waiting room.

I was the only trainer to occupy the room, which allowed me to prepare myself in peace despite hearing the muffled roar of the crowd through the walls. In that time, I heard a feminine announcer's muffled voice but could not understand it. She was presumably giving me an introduction.

The time seemed to pass in an instant, and before I knew it, I was being ushered into the arena. The entire floor of the arena was sand which rose into dunes in some places. No vegetation or water was present. The roar of the crowd rose in volume as well, but was somewhat stifled by a large transparent wall between them and the stadium. I trudged along, inadvertently shoveling sand over my feet with every step.

I was greeted by the gym trainer who stood barefoot with tan camouflage shorts and a tan camouflage tank top. "Francis Cotterman," he said, extending a hand. When I shook it, he continued, "Welcome to the Viridian City Gym. I'm sure you know how this goes by now, but I'm required to explain. Beat me today to win the right to challenge Leader Williamson. The rule of this battle is three against three. Good luck!" He then lowered his voice and whispered, "Big fan, by the way," with a wink.

I trudged away to a reasonable distance and turned around with a pokeball in my hand. With a flick of my wrist, I added a flourish to the release of my first fighter: Ceto. In front of Francis appeared a large insectoid creature. It looked like a four-foot-long dragonfly with pale yellow scales covering its body and bright green rhomboid wings. I recognized Ceto's opponent as a Vibrava, the middle evolution of the Trapinch line.

With a confident smile, I ordered Ceto to use Ice Beam exclusively, which would be devastating to both of the Vibrava's subtypes. She immediately released a wickedly-sharp-tipped ice beam while the Vibrava's wings vibrated and caused the sand around it to rise into the beginnings of a sandstorm. The freezing beam cut through the wind and speared its wing, freezing the entire appendage solid.

The Vibrava thrashed uncontrollably in pain, confined to the floor of the arena, which gave Ceto a free shot to finish it off with another beam of ice that pierced it in the side. The Vibrava was then switched out for a Dugtrio, the evolved form of Diglet, whose body had grown two additional heads in the evolution and whose figure had grown more streamline.

There was a good reason for Francis's choice of Dugtrio. Dugtrio are very fast and spend most of their time underground and away from harm. It immediately burrowed upon being called out to dodge Ceto's first beam of ice. "Get ready to counter!" I yelled, and Ceto angled her head downward. Seconds later, the mole-like pokemon erupted from the ground underneath her and collided with Ceto's hard-bone crest. Shortly thereafter Ceto issued a point-blank watery pulse; a combination of Aoro's and Sheila's teachings.

The Dugtrio was thrown back to the sand, whereupon it immediately burrowed again. It appeared nearly 40 feet away and two of its heads wavered, causing the sand below Ceto to explode upwards with force. Ceto was caught by surprise, but she quickly responded with a forceful stream of water. The Dugtrio dodged the Water Gun, for the sandstorm had hidden it from sight, and flung a large spray of sand at her, catching her in the eyes and distorting her vision.

Ceto retaliated with water guns, but the Dugtrio continued to fling sand into her eyes, exacerbating her blindness. Then, the Dugtrio used another Earth Power to blast her again. She tried to fight back, but she could not seem to hit the elusive creature. Finally, it raised a thick earthy wave and sent it crashing into her. Ceto was flung into the sand, but she quickly rose back up and sent out a concentrated water pulse which cut through the storm and managed to hit one of the Dugtrio's head with a sickening _crack! _

Soon after, the Dugtrio was returned. Seeing Ceto battered and blind, I switched her out for Gilles, who announced his presence with a giggle. His opponent appeared out in the sandstorm; a four-foot-tall – when on two legs – pangolin with sharp spines covering its back and with foot-long claws.

The Sandslash's spines rose as it hissed, and it immediately disappeared underground. It did not reappear, but I saw Francis stomping the ground. A short while later, a star-shaped ray hit Gilles, causing him to screech. The Sandslash then continued to repeat the attack while staying underground.

The crowd booed in derision of the cheap tactic. "Gilles, go get him!" I ordered. "Nightmare!" Gilles faded into the sand with an echoing giggle and all went silent. It stayed that way for around 20 seconds, during which time I kept an eye on his health meter on his pokeball and saw it drop to 80%.

All of a sudden, Sandslash emerged with blood running from its nose and ears, and Gilles appeared beside with an emerald orb of energy ready to be released. It blasted across the Sandslash's face and sent it spiraling into the sand. When it did not move, the crowd let out a cheer. After we returned our pokemon, I shook Francis's hand and then left the arena to register my challenge to Leader Williamson.

Shortly thereafter, I was jumped by a reporter named James, who was surrounded by a throng of fans. "Mr. MacAfee, quick word for the viewers?" I shrugged and he continued, "Great! Now I'm sure that _no one _thought you would lose this fight, but how do you feel about challenging Leader Williamson? He is, after all, the toughest gym leader in Kanto. Are you nervous that your perfect gym record could be broken?"

"I've never been more confident in the abilities of my team," I responded.

"I know LeagueWatch's thrill seeking-viewers are grateful to hear that!" James acknowledged. "That was quite the performance! It's not often that a challenger is capable of beating the trainer's team with only one switch-out. But to switch focus, what can you say has been your greatest challenge in preparing for gym battles to this point?"

"Hmm," I pondered. "Maybe keeping my team progressing at the same rate. Choosing a training regimen that allows each and every one of them to improve at the same rate is very difficult to do when you realize that they each have individual strengths and weaknesses."

"I see, and how have you dealt with this challenge?" James asked.

"I guess I've dealt with it by always having a very dynamic training routine. I can change it quickly to work on different things if my team needs it," I explained.

"Well, young trainers, there is some good advice from Zachariah MacAfee, nearly expert trainer!" proclaimed James to the camera. "Now I don't want to keep you too long, so I'll ask only one more question. Do you have anything you want to say to your fans?"

"Well," I said quickly. "I'll admit that I was surprised to see so many people out for my match. I guess I would like to thank you all for your support." A couple people in the crowd hooted.

James then thanked me and wished me luck. I gave one final wave to the camera and then passed through the crowd amidst bids of good fortune and pats on the back until I found my parents and Sheila. With them, I returned home.

"You did unsurprisingly well," commented Sheila on the way.

"Thanks," I responded.

"Ceto took a beating, though," commented my mother.

"Yeah, she did," I replied. "She's tough, though. She'll recover in no time, especially with the help of the Pokemon Center." And the Pokemon Center was our first stop. Afterwards, we returned the house and I trained with the remainder of my pokemon.

During the next four days between my first and second matches, a plethora of fans stopped me on the streets or visited the infernal breeding grounds. My small amount of fame was having a positive impact on my family's business, reinforcing the promises of my family's expertise and showing an increase in the number of Rapidash stabled in the PokeWall.

Sheila stuck with me for the most part. Even though her sister lived about five miles away in the city suburbs, my mother and father offered her a guest bedroom on the second floor of the house, right down the hall from their room. I knew that my parents knew about our closeness, for they had seen on the Internet our kiss after her battle, so I guess they thought propriety dictated offering her a room far away from mine and in a place where they would hear her if she left the room.

But if my parents expected Sheila to stay out of my room at night because it was two floors down, they were mistaken. Sheila simply had Shade teleport her to the basement where we could express our affection for each other, and then back up to her room in the morning.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Eventually, the day of my battle with the eighth gym leader came. On that day, I arrived an hour early to find a line of spectators extending out the door of the gym to the courtyard where it opened up into a large crowd. Once I drew near, they all cheered and allowed me, Sheila, and my parents to pass to the front.

My parents and Sheila, by virtue of being family and a close friend respectively, were given special seating close to the match. As I entered the gym's lobby, a large hand descended from above me and clapped me on the back and knocked the wind out of me. "Long time, no see, Zachariah," a deep, booming voice said from beside me.

I looked to my side to see Aoro's hulking figure smiling. I smiled back, said, "It certainly has been a while," and shook his hand.

"I came to see your match, obviously, so make it good! Afterwards, I'd like to stop by for a word if you wouldn't mind."

"Absolutely not!" I exclaimed happily.

"Great! In that case, good luck and I'll see you afterwards!" Aoro said and gave me one last rough pat on the back.

I left my parents and Sheila to enter the waiting room. Rufus accompanied me in, taking a seat beside the chair I appropriated. There, I ran over different strategies in my mind and scratched Rufus's back until I was finally invited into the gym.

As unlikely as it seemed, it looked as if there were more than twice the amount of spectators present than at my trial match. Leader Williamson stood in the center of the sandy arena waiting for me while the announcer's voice boomed from the speakers overhead.

A rush of adrenaline pumped through my body as I shuffled across the gym floor. "Welcome to Viridian City's gym, trainer," the leader greeted when I reached him. "Link your pokemon," he ordered and I acquiesced. "This is the eighth and final gym of the Indigo League. Congratulations for making it this far. I can still remember investigating you and your Gible nearly two years ago. You've come so far since then. For this battle, you are allowed three switches and two recovery items. You know the rules regarding conduct. Take your place and good luck."

I nodded and moved to a reasonable location. When I turned around, I saw a segmented tail with a dual-barbed tip slither into the sand in front of Leader Williamson. I grimaced at my opponent's early release and sent out my first pokemon, Dante. Given the type of opponents I was dealing with, I knew that certain moves like Double-Team would be useless due to seismic location, so I had planned accordingly.

**It looks like Zachariah is leading with his Gallade, Dante!**

Dante extended his blades in anticipation, and I yelled out, "Protect!" just in time for him to raise a barrier as his opponent shot out of the sand as if it were water. A large scorpion-like bat flew out of the sand and dived through the air in an aerial ace and clipped Dante's barrier of protection before continuing on and diving back into the sand.

"Get away and Swords Dance!" I yelled as quickly as I could, and Dante teleported to another side of the arena. Immediately his blades started shining. Before I could give him another order, he leapt to the side to narrowly miss being hit by the Gliscor's post-leap flying attack from the sand. Once again, the Gliscor burrowed before Dante could react.

"Teleport!" Dante did so and I yelled, "Counter with Leaf Blade!" Dante waited with his blades outstretched until the Gliscor leapt out of the sand in another Aerial Ace. Dante blocked its claw with one bladed arm, and his other arm glowed bright green before he ripped it along the Gliscor's hard skin. The Gliscor let out a very high-pitched squeal and slammed a briefly hardened wing into the side of Dante's head, causing him to falter and leave room for the Gliscor to flee underground.

"Again!" I yelled, and Dante readied his blades. This time, the Gliscor jumped up into the air, but instead of diving down with an aerial ace maneuver, it swooped down, flipped itself over acrobatically and slammed its tail into Dante's sternum, blowing him off his feet. "Teleport NOW!" I yelled, concerned that the flying move had hurt him badly.

Dante teleported away and appeared breathing heavily. "Quick jumps, use psycho cut!" I ordered. Dante then proceed to teleport a few feet at a time in random directions. Eventually, the Gliscor appeared once more to attack with an acrobatic flying maneuver, but Dante teleported away and sent four psychic blades whistling through the air at it.

The first two blades cut through its wings and caused it to plummet to the ground. The other two hit its body and carved deep gashes. It was immediately returned. "Heal yourself, Dante," I ordered as Leader Williamson wasted no time in sending out his next pokemon. It was a very large black hippo-like creature with sand passing through holes in its nostrils.

**Leader Williamson's Gliscor has fainted! It looks like Leader Williamson is following up with a Hippowdon!**

The Hippowdon opened its mouth in an aggressive stance, and the sand in the immediate vicinity whipped into the air. Leader Williamson, who was standing with his arms crossed near to it, disappeared in the sandstorm. Dante, newly healed, readied to attack. "Stay away from the sandstorm if you can!" I ordered. "Teleport in Leaf Blade when you get close, then quickly get out!"

Dante nodded and his eyes glowed green. He then disappeared and reappeared in the brewing sandstorm right next to the seven-foot-tall monster. As Dante sliced with a grassy blade, the Hippowdon whipped its body to the side with a roar and bashed Dante with its giant head. It then quickly followed up with a powerful bulldoze when Dante was momentarily stunned.

Dante was thrown to the ground, but he teleported out of the sandstorm to a few yards in front of me. He was breathing heavily again, so I ordered him to heal once more. However, the sandstorm grew and the earth started shaking, knocking me from my feet so that my elbow hit the ground hard. I cried out in surprise, but as the earthquake shook me, I could see Dante being similarly affected.

"Get in there!" I struggled to yell, and I saw Dante disappear from his prone position. Seconds later, the earthquake ended and I was able to stand up. Dante appeared with a _pop! _and looked proud of himself.

I then heard, **The Leader's Hippowdon is down! That's two down now!**

I rubbed my sore elbow but sighed in relief. "Good job, Dante!" I said. "Now, same tactic as before." Dante readied himself for his next opponent, but suddenly dived to the side as a large jagged rock jutted out from beneath him. By that point, I could not see inside the storm. It was continuing to rage and it was very dense. I could not see his opponent.

**Folks, I am having a tough time making out who Leader Williamson is using right now.**

"Find it and attack!" I ordered. Dante teleported in to the storm, but was soon thrown out along with a particularly large rock. He skidded along the sand and slowly rose up. "Heal!" I yelled, but it looked like Dante was growing tired. He managed to heal some of his injuries, but was thrown into the air by blast of sand beneath him.

As he sailed through the air, I yelled, "Now!" and Dante disappeared. A shrill cry was heard after a second and Dante reappeared outside of the sandstorm. He had a look of pride on his face, so he must have hit whatever his opponent was.

Then, all of a sudden, another jagged rock jutted from the ground and struck him. I heard a crack and he was launched across the sand. I quickly returned him while the announcer proclaimed, **Dante goes down! Zachariah's first pokemon has fell victim to Leader Williamson's team!**

I released Azrael next, doing away with the archetypical progressive tactic that defines most trainers. He appeared with a roar and was immediately struck with a large rock. He blanched, looking shocked that his opponent had attacked so quickly upon his arrival. But he quickly regained his composure as another rock sailed through the air towards him.

Azrael whipped his tail around and batted the rock away, forcing it to sail into a nearby wall and send cracks spiderwebbing around the impact location. "Get in there and take it out!" I yelled. "Use Crunch and Dragon Claw!" Then I stomped on the ground.

Azrael burrowed, finding the sand easily traversable, and emerged inside the sandstorm with a roar. His roar was the only indication of his presence that I could perceive, so when his roar changed to a pained one and a beam of ice escaped the storm, I grew slightly nervous. Soon after, though, Azrael simply walked out of the sandstorm with a look of both pride and anger on his face. His abdomen leaked blood and icicles covered the wound.

**I'm hearing now, folks, that Zachariah has passed the first round! Leader Williamson had used a Gastrodon, but it has now fallen to Zachariah's beast of Garchomp, Azrael!**

"Great job, trainer!" called out Leader Williamson as the sandstorm petered out. "On to Round Two! Prepare yourself!" Before him appeared a familiar behemoth of a pokemon. It was a Rhydon, and it bellowed a challenge to Azrael.

"Hyper Beam!" I yelled, and Azrael let loose a powerful beam of energy which slammed into the Rhydon's chest. The Rhydon looked to simply shrug it off and charged at Azrael. Once it was close enough, it leapt forward and twisted its body into a spiraling Drill Run. It plowed into a protective barrier that rose around Azrael, and the barrier dropped as soon as it lost its momentum. Without hesitation, I returned Azrael.

As much as I believed in Azrael, I wanted someone a little more maneuverable, so I sent out Lazarus.

**It looks like Zachariah has switched out his starter for his newest addition, his Electabuzz named Lazarus!**

Lazarus looked very uncomfortable in the sand, but I immediately yelled, "Stay away from it! Focus Blast!" Reminiscent of Lazarus's battle with Jeremy's Aggron, Lazarus sped into motion. He sent a more powerful focus blast than those of the previous fight, but the Rhydon aggressively closed the distance. While Lazarus was leagues faster than the hulking creature, the sand slowed his movements.

Lazarus dodged one charge attack, only to be hit hard with a second Bulldoze. Lazarus was flung to the ground and the Rhydon descended on him quickly. It raised an enormous foot into the air and dropped it towards Lazarus, who disappeared into his pokeball. **Zachariah's second pokemon is down. Who will he use next? **

With a sigh, I re-released Azrael and yelled, "Bulldoze!" The Rhydon once again charged Azrael, and when he lifted a wave of sand towards the Rhydon, it plowed through the wave in another Drill Run. This time, it hit Azrael in the chest and drove him back. When it reared back for another attack, a large bloody hole in Azrael's chest remained. However, Azrael was not incapacitated. He issued another Bulldoze – this time at close range – and sent the behemoth flying backwards.

"Dragon Rush!" I yelled. "Don't let up!" Azrael rushed forward while the Rhydon was getting back to its feet and slammed into it. With one last Bulldoze, Azrael finished off the Rhydon.

**Azrael has triumphed over Leader Williamson's Rhydon! One down, folks! Only two more to go! **

The gym leader sent out his next contender and my jaw dropped. It was a dark purple behemoth similar to a Rhydon, except it had large ears and its body was covered in venomous barbs and large, thick scales. It also stood ten feet tall with a wickedly long horn on its nose.

**Folks this is a treat! Leader Williamson has decided to use a Nidoking! This is one of very few alive today! My guess is that this Nidoking has been bred from Bane, Leader Williamson's elite Nidoking.**

Azrael squared off with the hulking creature, sizing it up when I yelled, "Bulldoze! Tomb and Whip!"

Azrael sent a powerful wave surging into the large creature, who was hit by it but immediately leapt forward and slammed a barbed fist into Azrael's chest wound. Azrael roared in agony and backed off. The Nidoking jabbed again, though Azrael blocked it with the bulb on the side of his head. Before it could use another attack, the sand below the Nidoking liquefied and the large creature sank. Azrael whipped his body around and struck the Nidoking across the face with his tail.

The Nidoking recoiled, but it climbed out quickly and pushed Azrael back. Then it used a move I had only ever heard about – one that I could not believe was allowed in battles. With a loud shriek, the Nidoking raised its hands and drove them apart with strain. The ground below Azrael began to shake and a fault stretched along the ground underneath him. Then, in a split second, the fault line widened dramatically and opened up a deep chasm, into which Azrael fell. With a gasp and expletive of fear, I raised Azrael's pokeball and luckily managed to return him while struggling to remain standing just as the walls of the abyss violently slammed back together.

**Legendaries! Azrael has been taken out! That, everyone, was the move Fissure; probably the most deadly ground move known to the League! **My heart raced faster than it ever had as I realized Azrael had literally almost been killed. I looked at his health to find it at 10% and I understood that he had not escaped unscathed. If I had hesitated even for one moment, Azrael might be gone.

I only stood and stared horrified at his Greatball as that reality sunk in. "Trainer, send out your next pokemon or concede defeat," ordered the gym leader.

I could only do as he asked as my anger rose in my stomach. "Gilles, take him out!" I yelled, pissed off. Gilles could not be effected by a move like Fissure, so he was the obvious choice. "Hypnosis then Fire-Cripple!"

Gilles emitted a larger image of his face to hypnotize the behemoth, but not before he was hit with a Hyper Beam. He screeched loudly as the Nidoking was forced asleep. Gilles recovered though and sent a purplish fire streaming over the monster. It flowed over the Nidoking and started burning. Gilles' arms then elongated and started lashing the monster furiously.

The Nidoking was driven from its sleep and it threw an enormous rock at Gilles, who elongated his shadow, appeared behind the behemoth and struck it with a shadowy claw. "Hex again," I yelled, but the Nidoking swung around and released a shadow ball, which struck Gilles in the center of his mass. Gilles shrieked and his body fizzled into a shadowy blob.

I returned him to the sound of the announcer saying, **Gilles is down! That's four down! They both have only two left!**

I released Rufus next. He snarled his challenger and I yelled, "Fire Blast!" The ghostly fire continued to rage over its body. Rufus powered up a fiery orb and sent it flying while the Nidoking attempted to shorten the distance between them. The fireball hit the charging behemoth and exploded, knocking it onto its back with an audible _thud _and shook the ground.

At that moment, I started growing dizzy. I started seeing black dots appear in my vision and reality started to fade until all of a sudden, I blacked out. Or, at least, that is what seemed to be happening. My mind was wracked with stabs of pain and I could hear indiscriminant screams ringing out in my ears. I screamed out in pain and in defiance, immediately suspecting the Banette to have returned, and attempted to banish it from my head.

I physically thrashed about as much as I could and attempted to scream louder than the others ringing out in my head. Eventually, large red eyes appeared and intensified in the black undefined chasm before my vision. It felt like a hot iron nail was being driven into my brain, but I defiantly fought it. I found that the harder I willed it to die, the less intense its gaze burned. In that way, I forced it from my mind and reality came back.

My mouth was dry and all was quiet. I could hear a panting and I felt someone's hands on my forehead. I opened my eyes to see Leader Williamson looking at me concerned. "Ugh" I spat, expelling sand from my mouth. "How long was I out?" I struggled to say.

"A few minutes. What's going on? Are you under attack?" pressed the gym leader.

"You could say that…" I said. "Where is that Arceus-forsaken Banette?"

"The what?" he asked.

"A-a ghost," I stammered. "This isn't the first time it's attacked me in a fight. Though each time before, it's appeared right."

"Nothing appeared," he replied, looking around.

I groaned, sat up, and looked around. The spectators were silent, Rufus was standing over me protectively, though I saw that he had some injuries around his chest and shoulders. The Nidoking was nowhere to be found, but instead a dragon with rhomboid wings monitored the area. "What happened?" I asked.

"In the battle?" asked Leader Williamson. I nodded. "Your Houndoom took out my Nidoking and his fight with my Flygon was underway when I noticed you holding your head instead of giving orders, and then you suddenly collapsed."

"Thank you for stopping the match," I said with gratitude. "I can understand that you would be concerned, but I just want to finish this battle. This Banette problem is something I've sought help for and have found out that it is something I need to take care of myself. It cannot be helped. Please let us finish this match," I implored him, fearing that I may have been disqualified for lack of ability to battle.

Leader Williamson pondered for a few moments with a disapproving look on his face before he said, "…Alright, if that's what you want. But I want a more proper explanation of what just happened afterwards, am I clear?" I nodded. "One last thing. Is there any danger of the ghost attacking anyone else here?"

"I don't believe so. It has only ever attacked me even though people have been around me at the times it has attacked," I responded, and then stood up.

"Alright then," Leader Williamson responded.

**Well folks, it looks like Zachariah is ready to continue fighting! I'm not sure what the problem was, but he seems to be okay now. Let's see if he can pull it off with his last two pokemon. **

I was very confident despite what had just happened. Knowing that my opponent was a Flygon gave me relief because I knew that Ceto would be very effective. Rufus would just need to wear it down and then she would finish it off. I started off by yelling, "Dim the field!"

Rufus billowed black smoke into the air which quickly spread into a dense smokescreen – a technique we had worked on to refine smog into a smokescreen – while the green dragon whipped up a sandstorm. As soon as Rufus finished, he loosed a dark pulse bubble, blowing the smoke outwards and doubling its radius.

In the meantime, the Flygon increased its sandstorm, picking up some of the smokescreen. The smoke was carried into the storm and only helped to plunge more of the arena into dimness, for the smoke blocked much of the light. Then I yelled, "Flame Jump," and I saw Rufus's body merge into the shadows within the smokescreen. "Again!" I yelled.

After a brief moment, I saw a light appear from within the sandstorm. The Flygon was ejected from the storm and kept itself aloft over the smoke for a few seconds before Rufus leapt from the shadowy cloud below wreathed in flames and still somewhat melded with the shadows. He must have been twenty-five feet in the air when he left the smoke and collided with the dragon, showering it with fire, and latching on with his dark jowls.

The Flygon tossed in the air, trying to rid itself of its hellish attacker, but Rufus would not let go. It flew into the sandstorm, and a couple seconds later, I heard a _thud_, followed by a pained yelp from Rufus. Rufus's pokeball read 33% and then it dropped to 2% following another draconic cry from within the storm. A large wave of sand flowed out of the storm directly afterwards. I ran forward with my pokeball raised.

I could not see into the storm, but as long as I could make it 30 feet from Rufus, I would not need to hit him with the laser pointer to return him. I entered it entirely before I was close enough for the pokeball to return Rufus. On my way out, a baseball-sized rock slammed into my shoulder, cutting my clothes and skin and causing me to cry out.

I dove out of the storm to escape it and heard, **Zachariah's Houndoom, Rufus, has been recalled. He is on his last pokemon, and we all know who that is! Ceto, his Seadra! Oh wait, it looks like he is holding his shoulder. This, folks, is why it is unwise to enter a sandstorm from a high-enough leveled pokemon. All kinds of heavy objects get caught up in them. **

I released Ceto while clutching my shoulder. She looked at me with concern, but I said, "I'm alright, Ceto. This battle is up to you now. You're the last one. Now, reveal the dragon! Rain Dance!" I commanded.

A breeze whipped around Ceto and heavy clouds started forming right under the ceiling. While the clouds condensed, the Flygon flew from the storm and aimed a solar beam right at Ceto. It caught her on the crest, interrupting the technique. However, the move had already been started. Rain began to drop, clinging to the particles of sand in the storm.

Within moments, the rain picked up in intensity, during which time I called out an order for Ceto to use an Ice Beam. The beam passed through the storm and hit the far wall while the Flygon sent a few rocks sailing towards Ceto. She angled her crest diagonally towards one, and it ricocheted off. The others landed in various positions around her.

The Flygon then dived out of the sky towards Ceto in a draconic rush. "Protect!" I yelled, just in time for Ceto to raise a barrier. "Ice Beam!" I yelled while it was still in close. Ceto released the beam, but the Flygon also raised a barrier at the last second. Then it dove into the earth and disappeared from sight. By this point, rain was falling freely and the storm had diminished, leaving a wet fog.

"Flood it, Ceto!" I ordered, and much of the water falling from the clouds condensed into a wave that surged into the sand immediately around her. "Now freeze it!" I yelled. Ceto used an ice beam to flash freeze the water in the sand around her. She was now surrounded by an icy pseudo-barrier. "Now wait, and prepare an ice beam."

As I spoke the latter command, the ice below her rumbled. Then, the Flygon emerged from the sand about ten yards away. As it did so, Ceto homed in and shot the prepared ice beam at the nearly-helpless dragon. The beam was blocked once more by a barrier before the dragon surged towards Ceto on all four legs. "Again!" I yelled.

Unfortunately for the Flygon, it slipped on the ice while on its charge and fell forward. It flared its wings to catch itself, but all that did was make it a larger target for Ceto's last ice beam, which struck it right between the shoulder blades. The Flygon slid to a stop, where it made no further move. I had been holding my breath, but I let it out with a huff when the Flygon disappeared into it pokeball.

All at once, my awareness of everyone else present in the gym came into focus. The roar of the crowd had reached an almost unbearable volume. The announcer had enthusiasm in his voice as he boomed, **Zachariah's done it! He's beaten Leader Williamson and earned the final badge with an 8-0 gym record. A PERFECT RECORD! He is the second trainer to do so since Champion Volker himself! Congratulations Zachariah MacAfee! And congratulations to all of your pokemon! **

A rush of euphoria coursed through my body as I ran over to Ceto, forgetting that the area was iced. I slipped, but I managed to catch myself before I fell on my back. If I had not been so happy, I probably would have been very embarrassed. I still approached Ceto, albeit much more cautiously, and gave her a hug. She gave a happy squeak in return and I allowed her to follow beside me to meet with Leader Williamson in the center of the arena.

He waited for me with a smile on his face. There was a hint of worry behind it, but he did not let it keep us from the moment. "Congratulations, Zachariah MacAfee. With this badge," he said, presenting me with the Earth Badge, "You are now an Expert Trainer. You can now train two different pokemon aside from your team, though you cannot use them in a fight unless you switch them out with your six. You may also apply for a breeder's license with special consideration if you want to own and train more than fifteen pokemon. You will receive your Finalist Badge at the League Appropriations Office through the door on the East side of the arena.

"In becoming a League Finalist, you now are eligible to challenge the Elite 4. You are allowed to enter Victory Road and test your mettle to reach the Indigo Plateau, where the Elite 4 reside. You are also allowed to enter Cerulean Cave if you so desire, although it is highly inadvisable unless you have beaten at least two of the Elite 4. Congratulations again, Zachariah MacAfee. Take pleasure in your accomplishments and share it with your pokemon. You have earned it."

The gym leader finished and motioned me to the fans. I looked up and gave a wave before heading out the eastern entrance with Ceto. I collected my Finalist Badge, prize money, and the TM _Earthquake_ at the League Appropriations Office, before I was waylaid by the gym leader.

"So, Zachariah, let's talk about what happened out there," he said.

"Fair enough," I said resignedly. I then recounted to him the details of my relationship with the ghost, though I left out much of the details about its origin.

Leader Williamson pondered on it for a moment. Then he said, "It would appear that you have a fair amount of bad luck, Mr. MacAfee. Thank you for the explanation. I suggest you work on that, but I'm sure you already know that. Good luck with your travels." The gym leader then left, allowing me to do so as well.

The immense courtyard was filled with people cheering as I exited the building. The reporter James was waiting for me unsurprisingly with a microphone. "Mr. MacAfee, care to answer a few questions?"

I allowed him to do so and while it took place, my parents and Sheila showed up. The normal questions were asked and I was actually having a good time. But then James ruined it when he asked, "Do you think Kira's rampage had anything to do with your motivation to become a trainer three years ago?"

I was slightly dumbfounded that he would ask such a question. To me it seemed a bit personal and inappropriate. "If you're asking me if the catastrophe had a positive effect on my life, then I would have to say no," I said, irritated. "But I guess I would not have met Azrael when I did if it didn't happen."

"R-Right," James stuttered, noticing his blunder. "What I meant to ask was, is there anything you would like to say about that incident?"

"Not really," I said curtly. The mood had changed so quickly that James was forced to end our interview. It was fairly awkward, and Sheila wasted no time in pointing that out.

"That was pretty awkward. You would think reporters for LeagueWatch would have a little more tact than that," she observed.

"No kidding," I said. I paused to shake someone's hand and accept their congratulations before moving on.

A few moments later I heard from behind me, "Zach! Congrats, man!" I turned around to see Keith making his way to me.

I stopped with a smile and thanked him. "What have you been up to?" I asked.

"Oh this and that," he replied. "I challenged Williamson a couple of weeks ago, but I lost. Aside from that, I've been training. I see the Banette is still giving you trouble," he said.

"Unfortunately, yeah," I responded. "Getting a little old to be honest."

"No shit," he laughed. "Well, I stopped by to watch your match. Gotta get back out there soon, though, you know? Maybe I can buy you a beer sometime soon."

"I would like that," I responded.

Then, Keith turned to Sheila. "So, you both a thing now?" he asked without tact.

I noticed people around me listen in closely, but I responded, "Yes, we are." I then turned to Sheila and repaid her for her gesture on her victory day by kissing her in front of everyone. Keith laughed and said, "Show off."

Sheila was blushing when we parted, and I did not care that my parents were nearby to witness it. I understood then the kind of joyfulness and pride one could feel by winning his last badge, and what it could do to one's inhibitions. I chose to run with it, and I walked through the courtyard. When I was nearing the edge of the courtyard, I heard a distantly familiar voice say, "So the famous Zachariah has finally beaten the League. Who didn't see it coming?"

Curiously, I turned around to see a boy with dirty blonde hair, freckles, and brown eyes. He stood with his arms crossed. I recognized him instantly and my mood soured. "_Alex_." I said with vitriol.

"Yup, Alex," he responded proudly. "Long time no see," he said.

"Not long enough," I replied. "How was rehab? Still giving your pokemon illegal stimulants?"

"Now is that any way to treat an old friend?" Alex asked, feigning being hurt.

"Old friend?" I scoffed. "Cut the crap. What do you want?"

"Oh you're no fun. I just wanted you to know that I have not forgotten. I _will _beat you someday."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," I said. "Until then, good luck and whatever." I then turned away and walked the rest of the distance to the edge of the courtyard. There, I met Aoro waiting with Cerulean Leader Holmes.

Leader Holmes extended a hand and said, "Brilliant move soaking the ground and freezing it, MacAfee."

"I have my moments," I said with a laugh.

"I see that. Good job today. Ceto looks to be developing well. I'm grateful for that," she told me.

"They all are doin' pretty well, I think," said Aoro. "Your Electabuzz could use some help, but still very good overall. I thought it was pretty shitty that Pierce used Fissure, though. Excellent reflexes on that note; Azrael was in trouble."

"You don't have to tell me that," I replied. "I thought my heart stopped when I saw the ground open up."

"My guess is that it was an attempt to test your grip on battling, which you passed," Aoro mused. "He used a notoriously deadly move and you worked around it. You certainly are an expert trainer."

"Thanks…" I said.

"Well, enjoy your fame. I'll see you around five," Aoro said, and then traipsed off.

Leader Holmes shook her head with a laugh. "Good luck, MacAfee." She then left as well.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Later that night, Aoro stopped by and spoke with me in my family's parlor. I had a celebratory beer with him while we conversed.

"So, Zachariah. What are your plans now?" he started.

"Right now I want to visit Leader Kay before I challenge the Nugget Bridge and Dojo again. After that, I was thinking of traveling to a different circuit. I might stick with Sheila while she finishes this circuit first, though."

"Not a bad plan, Zachariah. What about after all that?" he pressed.

"Honestly, I've been thinking about ACE," I replied.

"Brilliant! I was hoping you would set your sights high," Aoro said with a boom. "That's a different beast than the League, though. Have you thought about the Indigo Conference at all?"

"I honestly did not think I should compete in it this soon," I responded. "It has people who've beaten the Elite 4. Hell, someone like _you _could compete. Well, not a gym leader, but someone who is as good as a gym leader. I don't think we are on the same level yet."

"Wise answer," Aoro stated. "I still think you should participate just to experience their caliber in actual combat." I thought over it for a while. Eventually, Aoro said, "Just sit on it for a while. Think it over. In the meantime, I was wondering if, with your busy schedule, you would have the time and desire to join me for another pre-summer training camp."

"O-of course I would!" I stuttered out. "It was one of the most beneficial opportunities I have ever received!"

"Great! I leave on the first of May. Meet me at my house and we'll return to the valley," he said. Then he finished his beer and said, "I want to see this Infernal Competitors park. Mind if I take a look?"

"I don't," I said, and accompanied him to the door. As I watched him leave, I reflected on the information I had gained and how far I had come. I had met Azrael almost three years ago and started the league almost two years ago. So much had happened in that time that it seemed like double that amount of time had passed. I had made so many friends and enemies. I had come so far, it seemed, in so little time, that a time of my life that was so vastly different from the present seemed so distant.

It reminded me how quickly things were capable of changing. I was reminded that, at any time and with no warning, all I knew and loved could be put in jeopardy, and therefore, I could not let myself become complacent. But even so, I felt no guilt in allowing myself to revel in the small future I had created for myself and my parents. It was almost perfect.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Expert Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979E**

**Active Pokemon: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

Lazarus – Electabuzz

**Expert Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457E**

**Active Pokemon: **

Kara – Roserade

Larry – Ampharos

Shade – Gardevoir

Wilbur – Walrein

Thomas – Breloom

Geo – Torterra

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Author's Note: Hello everyone. I originally wanted to put more in this chapter, but it turned out longer than expected. So, stuff happened. The 8th badge is finally won, Sheila and Zach are finally getting together, and Alex has been out of rehab. Still lots to come! Thanks for sticking with me until now and keep reviewing!


	25. Chapter 25: The Follow Through

Chapter 25

_This isn't necessary. I'm ready NOW! No other challenger gets this kind of introduction. Why am I any different? _Well, of course I know why. My impatience and rush of adrenaline have rubbed off on my companion, whose heat is causing heat waves to appear in the room. _Screw this! _I mentally exclaim, and shove the door open to reveal a hallway in which small speakers are playing the Indigo Plateau anthem.

Determined, I pass through quickly to the door at the other end. A rumbling comes from the other side. The doorknob feels cold in my palm as I turn it and let in a blinding ray of light. The rumble transforms into a clashing roar. _Is there any reason for this many people to be here? They won't see the battle. They'll only see the loser. This is unnecessary! _

A quick scan of the crowd and I can pick out a couple friendly faces. A mix of sadness and anger wells up in my throat as I take note of who cannot be here. So many have fallen, and yet I am still here. Everything that has occurred up until now has led me to this point. The good and the horrible. I let the faintest traces of debate start up in my mind over which has had the most influence, and then shut it out. I am here now. That's all that matters. I cannot change what has happened.

But would I really want to? Yes. Yes I would. But it is pointless to contemplate. What I _can _think about is what lays immediately ahead, the motivation for my entire youth so imminent that it was almost painful to put off any longer. "Mr. MacAfee, they're not finished yet!" I heard to my side. I can hardly hear it, but I ignore it. I am too focused on that large, intricate stone doorway in the side of the mountain.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The weeks preceding Aoro's training camp flew by as a mix of training, traveling, and a few memorable events. Before I left Viridian, I attempted to make a little progress with the Blastoise I had caught before selling him. The Blastoise had a spider web of scars on its shell reminiscent of past injuries that spread to its face. Perhaps it pointed to a very tough life, which might explain why the Blastoise was resistant to my attempts to tame him. He simply would not listen to me. And every time anyone approached him, he would attack regardless of his own physical well-being. In the end, I gave up trying to tame him and sold him to the Pokemon Traders Guild.

Before I left, I stopped by BioTech for some TM's, I scheduled an appointment with Leader Kay in Saffron City, and I registered my first pokemon (the Charmeleon I had caught on Cinnabar) as "In Preparation.

I picked the Charmeleon for multiple reasons, but the main reason was that I needed a pokemon who could train on equal footing with Azrael on the ground and in the air. I originally released the Charmeleon inside the PokeWall to introduce myself, and a few people gathered at a distance to observe. Almost immediately, I needed to dodge a particularly hot ember which the fiery lizard projected at me.

"ENOUGH!" I ordered, with Azrael roaring to back up my words with effect. The Charmeleon settled down quickly after that, but it continued to glare at me defiantly. "That's better." I heard the sound of a few people, including my father, gasping in awe while Dante translated my words to the fire lizard. "My name is Zachariah and this is my team. On behalf of all of us, welcome." The Charmeleon did not change its demeanor.

"I'm giving you a unique opportunity," I explained. "I know that your species values battle prowess more than almost anything else, and that you will strive to make yourself better than anyone or anything you face. The opportunity I am giving you is to train with my team and become better." The Charmeleon snorted, blowing out a small puff of smoke from its reptilian nostrils.

"Don't believe me? Look at Azrael," I challenged. The Charmeleon looked up at the towering dragon with no less defiance than she had towards me. "He is three years old." I paused to let that sink in, and it definitely caught her attention. "That's right, and everyone else on this team has become an expert in the same amount of time or less. That may not mean anything to you, but know that we will be taking on the best teams in this country. What better opportunity could there be for you?"

The Charmeleon seemed to mull it over for a while before finally relaxing on its haunches with gruff resignation. "That's good. Now let me see," I said while I looked over its pokeball. "It says here that you are female, roughly seven years old, and level 22. Huh, you look a little small for a female," I observed, noting that she was about the size of an ordinary male of her species at four feet tall instead of five. She did not appreciate my candor and gave me a snarl in response, to which I replied, "I did not mean to offend. I was just making an observation." It did not seem to ease her temper, but I continued after a brief pause in thought, "How would you like to be called Saraph?"

The Charmeleon snorted, but her discontented demeanor did not worsen, so I interpreted it as acceptance. "Great! Now I think it's time to see what you can do. Rufus, you will be working a lot with Saraph, so you pay special attention." With everyone on the same page, I conducted a diagnostic training session in which I found that Saraph was very capable, but that she tended to unleash attacks with immense power and without much control. In short, she needed work, but then again, we all needed constant work on something.

In preparation for leaving, I registered for the Nugget Bridge, but the soonest I could find an event at my badge level was in three weeks at the end of the month. I also registered for my fourth Dojo challenge which would take place in a week. In the meantime, two days later, I paid for a teleport to Saffron City and visited Leader Kay at the gym.

In his large office, I shook his hand and sat down in a chair in front of his desk. "Hello, Mr. MacAfee. Congratulations on completing the circuit," he said first. I thanked him, and he continued, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"Back when I challenged you for the Marsh Badge, you told me to come back once I beat the circuit to talk about the 'shift' that you mentioned," I said, getting comfortable in my chair.

"Ah, so I did. I remember it more clearly now. Peculiar," he said, scrutinizing me intensely.

"What is peculiar?" I asked.

"First, let's start at the basics; the Shift," Leader Kay said, clasping his hands in front of him. "Having finished the circuit, you are now entitled to basic definitive knowledge of the Shift. The Shift is the process of a human's physical evolution. I'm sure you have heard stories of it and even seen examples of it yourself," Leader Kay explained.

"Like when you teleported in the arena when you were challenged a year or so back?" I asked.

"Actually, no," Leader Kay said with a laugh. "Although, if I could do that, then it would indeed be an example of the Shift. That was a Natu hidden in my breast pocket." He laughed again, and I could not help but smile. "But anyway, the Shift is a very gradual process most of the time. And the vast majority of people who experience it do so after at least five years of training with a formidable team. The Shift builds up to what we call the Reaction, which is a radical physical change relative to the gradual process. The most rare and potent phase of the Shift – which we refer to as the Peak – hardly ever occurs, and it only happens after at least 20 years of sustained training from what we've seen."

"So when you told me that you have never seen the Shift in someone as young as I, what did you mean?" I asked.

Leader Kay scrutinized me for a time. "I meant that I sensed something with you that I have never experienced with someone so young. As a psychic-type gym leader, I have devoted most of my life to the development of psychic pokemon. The Reaction occurred and I developed psychic abilities, such as telepathy. However, I could not read your thoughts, and I had trouble conveying my own thoughts to you."

"So I'm somehow able to block your telepathy?" I asked.

"Well, let me explain things a little more broadly," the gym leader said, standing up and pacing. "The Shift manifests in different ways, but in general it makes trainers stronger, faster, and smarter. It very much resembles the evolution of known types of pokemon, and may be particularly influenced by the types on your team. The vast majority of people, perhaps around 70%, manifest what we would call "normal" traits, which only consist of the aforementioned improvements. Fewer manifest traits consistent with other pokemon types. The most common non-normal Shifts I have personally seen are fighting and water, and I would say that those together make up about 20% of the total cases. Then rock and psychic make up about 6% or 7%. The remaining types are very rare to see manifested in trainers, at least in my own personal experience."

"Amazing…" I reflected. "So after a few years, I will grow faster and stronger?" I asked, leaning forward.

"Well, like I said, the Shift manifests in different ways. It has different effects on everyone. Not everyone increases their attributes by the same factor. And if you are some prodigy outlier, there is a chance that you could experience it sooner than expected. However, that is highly unlikely.

"The fact that my telepathy did not work on you could be due to a multitude of possibilities. The first, which we've covered, is that you are experiencing the Shift at an unprecedented age and manifesting traits that are resistant to psychic-types. Another possibility may be that you have the ability to reject the Shift and other people's traits; also unheard of. Yet another possibility is that you may have some sort of powerful entity preventing you from experiencing my telepathy; a bit more reasonable given that you came here looking for help to rid yourself of a malicious ghost stalker not too long ago."

"How come my Gallade can speak to me then?" I asked.

"Pokemon are different than humans. Psychic pokemon spend their entire lives honing their psychic abilities. It took me much longer to manifest psychic abilities, and therefore I have less of a grasp over it. But even so, I am able to use it effectively. I have yet to find a trainer that can block me out completely or even cause my telepathic qualities to become convoluted. Are you still the subject of a haunting?" he asked.

I nodded and he said, "I thought so. It is highly likely that the ghost is somehow latched onto you. Perhaps through its physical interactions it has embedded itself onto you and is preventing certain abilities from working on you, such as telepathy." His pacing slowed while he used his hands emphatically to explain.

"But that still doesn't explain how Dante is able to speak with me telepathically," I muttered, frustrated.

"Again, humans and pokemon are different. The ghost may be powerful enough to cancel me out, but not your Gallade. Ghosts are stranger than other pokemon given how little we can find out about them. There may be other reasons why it can cancel me out that we don't know about. You should focus on fixing that problem, and if my abilities are still being hampered, then we will consider other possibilities." said Leader Kay.

I sighed, leaned back in the chair, and said, "I hear that a lot…"

"It truly is a debacle," Leader Kay responded, and then sat back down.

"So, what now?" I asked.

"You continue your journey, wherever it may take you. Thank you for coming back to speak with me on this," he said, a note of finality in his tone.

"No problem," I said disappointed.

After I left, I angrily held a training session in the plains outside of Saffron City. I was angry because the Banette was causing so many problems for me and there seemed to be no way to stop it. I was so mad that I lashed out at a nearby tree once during a sprint. I punched a low-hanging branch, and it splintered sideways and fell to the ground. I kept running in my foul mood without paying attention to the fact that I had just shattered a tree branch six inches thick.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

I prepared for the Dojo by sparring with Dante during practice. Sheila did not want to spar with me, so Dante was the logical choice. Of course, he went easy on me and refrained from using his blades. He always played fair, and to my gratitude, he never messed with me by teleporting or using multiple images. Much to Dante's pleasure, Sheila did not fail to comment on his nobility.

When I was not training, I was contemplating different possible ways to kill the Banette. It had recently assaulted me, which meant that it would most likely attack me again soon. I reviewed the different ways we had killed it before, or rather, the only way we had, which was by tearing it apart. I needed to find a new way of killing it. Dolls were made out of cloth, and one way to destroy cloth was to burn it.

So, my plan was simple; burn it to death. I instructed Gilles and Rufus to accompany me at all times. And when the Banette inevitably revealed itself, I instructed Gilles to subdue it while Rufus used his flamethrower until nothing remained. I also allowed Gilles to use Will-O-Wisp on it, but I did not encounter the ghost before my Dojo challenge.

When the day of my challenge finally arrived, Sheila and I were greeted by the doorman and told to wait. Eventually, three men wearing white dobaks and black belts approached me. The one in the middle bowed to me and said, "Welcome to the Fighting Dojo, Zachariah MacAfee. This is your fourth challenge here. Please come forward."

I did as they told and found myself in the ring. "You have completed the novice rounds. The fourth round is the first of the expert rounds. The competition is much more difficult. This round is about speed and accuracy. The first fighter to hit the other in the chest or the head ten times is the winner. For your pokemon, the rules are somewhat subjective. So, choose your companion."

After a brief moment of thought, I decided to go with my fastest pokemon, Lazarus. I released him as a Hitmonlee appeared in the center of the circle beside the one in which I was standing. One of the three martial artists then said, "For the pokemon fight, 15 hits to win!" The Hitmonlee stretched its lanky leg across its body in preparation.

Then, a man walked into the ring with a black belt wrapped around his waist that was emblazoned with two golden bars. When he entered the ring, two of the other three bowed and backed out. The remaining martial artists stood between me and my opponent. "Take your positions. Every time you land a legal hit, a gong will sound. Every time your opponent lands a legal hit, a horn will sound."

I raised my fists defensively and calmed my nerves while Lazarus took his place in the other arena. My opponent took a readied stance on the balls of his feet. There was a short pause before the refereeing martial artist yelled, "Fight!"

Without waiting, I rushed forward to try to land an early hit, but it was as if my opponent had predicted I would do so. He moved backward, spinning in the process, and brought his heel up to my chin. The kick connected and threw me off of my feet. A horn sounded as I impacted the ground hard on my back, and the wind was driven out of my lungs.

I was not allowed to rest, though. Shortly thereafter, I was lifted to my feet to continue fighting. After all, Lazarus was not taking a break while I was down. The ref shouted, "Fight!" once more. Dazed, I chose a more defensive tactic with the intent to counter. My opponent moved towards me and threw a round-house kick to my side. It was too quick for me to block, and while I reflexively moved my arm down to block his kick, he followed up with a punch to my newly exposed side and a punch to my cheek. Three more sounding of the horn reverberated through the Dojo.

I grew angry that he was already up by four, so I put pressure on him by rushing him, keeping my head protected with my forearms. He struck me twice more in the gut whilst backpedaling, but I managed to punch him in the face twice. Two horns sounded and two gongs rang out.

I continued to put pressure on my opponent, but he bobbed and weaved, dodging all of my strikes. During my reckless attack, which might have resembled a Close Combat fighting technique, the black belt exploited gaps in my offense to land hits. Twice more the horn sounded as I felt the impact of his kicks on my ribs.

After the second hit, I backed off, gripped by fear of losing. I chose then to take a purely defensive stance, and only lash out when I was sure it would not be countered. However, the black belt moved towards me and kicked me in the side of my thigh, causing me to falter to the side. It left me open for a kick to the side and a spinning hook kick to the face, which landed with a _crunch_. The last kick threw me to the ground once more, and when I hit the ground, I blacked out.

When I awoke, presumably moments later, the match was over. I lost. I sullenly pulled myself off of the ground and felt my nose, recoiling with a wince when it stung at my touch. I looked at my hand to see it marred with blood. "The Dojo is victorious," the ref called out. "With ten to two in the human match, and 12 to 11 in the pokemon match." Lazarus had been trailing behind his opponent, but it was _I _who had lost the match.

I bowed to my opponent who returned the gesture, and was then ushered out, but not before I was told to stop by a hospital to get my nose checked out. Sheila followed me out and put a hand on my shoulder. I was too dazed to reject her comfort. In fact, several hours passed before I recovered from my bludgeoned stupor. To make things worse, I almost forgot to return Lazarus to his pokeball before I left.

Sheila led me to the hospital, and at one point she said, "I may not be a nurse or a doctor, but I am pretty sure your nose is broken." I had been having trouble breathing through my nose and my hazy stupor allowed me to only grunt in acknowledgement. "I don't think a nose should be pointing to the side," she continued.

I reached up instinctively to investigate what she meant, but recoiled again when pain shot through my face. I groaned in pain and allowed Sheila to walk me the rest of the way to the hospital without focusing on anything, where my nose was realigned and a small bandage was applied to hold it in place. I left with bruises all over my upper body, but none hurt so much as my pride.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Two weeks passed, during which Sheila and I trained north of Cerulean for the Nugget Bridge. My loss at the Dojo had hung heavily on my mind for a while until training blocked it out. It had also hung heavily on Lazarus's mind, for he had also lost his battle at the Dojo. I explained to him that it was not his fault that we lost, but he was difficult to placate. After numerous promises of growing stronger so that we would not fail again, Lazarus gradually moved past the loss.

Sheila helped to prepare my team with mock-battles and general support. We continued to pass along the lessons from our gym leader mentors as well, so we were always busy. It was during that two-week period that the Banette struck.

I was out hunting. I had a shot lined up on a Stantler when the ghost appeared directly in front of me. My wrist was immediately wracked with pain, and coupled with the surprise of the ghost's appearance, I released the arrow. It sailed through the Banette's transparent body and missed its target, which bounded away in fright.

The ghost and I stared each other down for less than five seconds before Gilles slammed into it from the shadows. During that five-second period, I saw that there was torn "fabric" on its wrist and on its leg, mirroring my own injuries.

After Gilles slammed into the Banette, he sent a stream of dancing purple fire washing over its body and then grabbed onto it with his shadowy claws. However, the Banette fought back. It launched a ball of shadow at Gilles from its side, whose body trembled at the collision. It looked like it was about to continue, but I released Rufus and sent him in to help with orders to "burn that bastard."

Rufus's flamethrower added to Gilles' paranormal fire and caused the ghost to shriek. It then tried to escape, but Gilles used his shadow to appear in front of the fleeing ghost and latch onto it with his claws. Rufus continued to pour his fire onto the ghost, but hit Gilles in the process. Gilles could only hold on for about six seconds before disappearing with a painful shriek.

The Banette looked faded, but it still tried to run so I yelled, "Fire Blast!" The stream of fire from Rufus's toothy maw ceased, replaced by an intense light, and a second later he issued a ball of fire that crashed into the back of the fleeing ghost. The Fire Blast exploded and set a nearby tree ablaze, but the ghost was down as well.

The Banette collapsed in pool of ectoplasmic goo, much like when Gilles is rendered unconscious. Rufus was on top of the Banette's remains in an instant, pouring more flames onto them in an unending inferno. Seconds later, my wrist stopped burning and Rufus halted his stream of fire. I released Ceto at that point and had her extinguish the spreading fire.

The Banette's remains were no longer there. I paused to see if I felt any different, but I did not. The scars on my wrist and leg were unchanged, though I did not know if they would change at all, and I physically felt no different than before. If I had succeeded in killing it once and for all, then I had no way of knowing.

I was fairly certain that I did not kill it, for fire seemed to be an obvious method tried out before, but I was not going to pass up the possibility just because it seemed too simple to have been overlooked. The most I could do then was to prepare for the next time it showed itself, if it was still "alive". _If it shows up again,_ I thought. _Maybe death by dark energy could work…_

Before the day of the Nugget Bridge, I had already decided on my team. I went with someone who had never battled there, and someone who had.

When I arrived at the Nugget Bridge, there were more than a few people. Apart from the fact that this was a higher-ranked pokemon competition than normal, which thrill-seekers loved to see, the names of the contestants were posted a few days in advance. I had more than a few fans waiting for me when I walked to the battle grounds.

I was a little more self-conscious than normal, given that my nose was still healing and looked like an ink-blot test. But the warm reception was more than enough to allay my nerves on that matter. Upon entering the stadium, I signed in and took my place among a bunch of other trainers. There were 16 participants in the tournament, which evened out the brackets, and we all clustered in a bleacher set aside for contestants and their guests.

In the stands, there was the normal pre-game trash talking occurring, which, to my chagrin, focused on my nose as soon as I arrived. Someone said, "Hey, look at that kid! I wonder what the other guy looks like!"

Someone else said, "Hey that's that prodigy, MacAfee. Looks like big shots like him are still only human!" Another said, "Look at his face. I bet he fights pokemon himself!"

I refrained from joining in with what I considered juvenile banter. I believed that my actions spoke louder than my words. Trash talking was normal, but then again, so were many of the trainers engaged with the practice. _Normal._

The Nugget Bridge started promptly at noon with an introduction by a Nugget Bridge coordinator. The brackets were then randomized and I came out with the second battle against a boy named Jim. I was assigned to field B, and as I made my way there, much of the crowd seated on the bleachers beside field A moved over as well. Before my match started, our stats were listed across a set of screens.

**Zachariah MacAfee: 8-0 Gym Record; 2073 Junior Indigo Champion; 2-0 Nugget Bridge. **

**Jim Palmer: 7-8 Gym Record; 0-3 Nugget Bridge. **

Once I took my place in front of Jim, the ref wasted no time in starting the match. I released Dante and Jim released a hulking, brown-furred biped with a tan stomach on which was an empty pouch. Dante flashed his blades at the rare Kangaskhan and prepared to fight. The Kangaskhan, however, much to my surprise, the chagrin of his trainer, and the amusement of the crowd, crossed its arms and glared at its trainer.

Laughter rang out in the crowd and it took me a couple of seconds to realize what was happening. The Kangaskhan was refusing to fight. For whatever reason – it did not respect its trainer, was simply lazy, or some other reason – the Kangaskhan did not feel like obeying its trainer's commands. Dante remained standing at the ready, but I did not order him to attack. After a few minutes, the Kangaskhan was forfeited for refusing to fight.

Jim looked very embarrassed. The crowd was laughing at him but I could only look at him with disappointment. Kangaskhan were very formidable pokemon, but to send one out in a team of two without having a proper hold on it was not only irresponsible, it was also insulting. Jim followed up with a monstrous Arbok.

The purplish-blue scaled cobra coiled up in front of Dante, who looked up at his opponent with a readied glare. "Keep your distance!" I yelled. "Psycho-Cut, Psychic, Psycho-Cut."

Dante's first quartet of psychic blades cut into the Arbok's dense scales and left deep gouges. The Arbok hissed in pain but was abruptly returned to its pokeball. Dante was just as surprised as I was, but the look of defeat in Jim's eyes was enough to say that he knew he did not stand a chance. The crowd laughed once more at Jim's expense as he left the contest and I returned to the bleachers unsatisfied.

Dante was also unsatisfied, but I assured him that he would have the chance to defeat a worthy opponent soon. The rest of the first round progressed over the next hour, some fights much slower than others. Like me, a few other trainers only needed to use one pokemon to win, and in the second round, things started to get heated. There were only eight trainers in round two, for a total of four battles. My fight was with the trainer who had won the battle that had taken place in field A when I was battling.

The trainer's stats read, **Caleb Goltree: 7-4 Gym Record; 2073 JIC Contestant; 1-2 Nugget Bridge.**

We faced off, Dante in front of me and an Exeggutor in front of Caleb. To begin, the Exeggutor hypnotized Dante as he teleported in to deliver a Night Slash. The Exeggutor then lifted Dante up psychically and slammed him into the ground. He woke up from the impact and sliced the plant pokemon from hip to hip with a dark-infused blade.

I heard Caleb yell, "Wood Hammer," so I quickly responded. The Exeggutor immediately, recklessly slammed its body into Dante, but Dante used Protect at the last second to absorb the blow. He then followed up with another Night Slash, which cut one of the egg-like heads atop the Exeggutor's body in half. The pokemon collapsed thereafter and was returned.

"Great job, Dante!" I called out. He nodded towards me and readied himself for the follow-up competitor. A Raichu appeared next, and I immediately yelled, "Double-Team." Dante split into multiple images while the Raichu started making short, progressively quicker jumps in random directions. The Raichu's agility increased even more as it repeated the technique, but Dante had sprung into action.

Midway through the Raichu's Agility technique, Dante teleported his clones closer and slammed the Raichu with a strong psychic force. The Raichu was stunned momentarily, allowing Dante to teleport in close for a brick break. However, the Raichu's quickened senses allowed it to recover and avoid Dante's attack.

While Dante was in close, the Raichu struck him with a bolt of electricity. I ordered him to teleport away and heal himself, so he teleported his clones to multiple sides of the field, whereupon their bodies glowed while he healed.

Half of them disappeared as the Raichu struck them with lightning. Before it could take out another image or hit the real Dante, I said, "Teleport in, Close Combat."

Dante appeared on two opposite sides of the Raichu and unleashed an uncontrolled, yet relentless, barrage of powerful strikes. It quickly became obvious on which side Dante was attacking due to the fact that the Raichu was pushed in one direction. Within a couple seconds, the Raichu was thrown to the ground with cuts and bruises marring its body.

"Great job, Dante!" I yelled again before returning him. I was declared the victor and I returned to the bleachers amidst cheers from the spectators. A few minutes later, I watched the next battle on the field in front of me. One of the trainers – a girl a little older than me – wore a black band shirt, and during her battle, her Graveler was knocked out by her opponent's Swampert. She then released a pokemon which gave the audience a reason to gasp in fear. I even let out a gasp of surprise.

"That is… horrifying…" murmured Sheila with a look on her face that mirrored her sentiment.

The trainer's pokeball released into her shadow. A shadowy hand then reached out and grabbed her leg as if it was pulling itself out of her shadow. Deep red eyes appeared and a mouth full of needle-like teeth spread beneath them. It finally stepped out in front of her and a feeling of dread filled the area. She had a Gengar.

It let out a deep laugh, almost as deep as the Banette's, with what sounded like high-pitched screaming mixed in. The trainer's opponent balked in fear and hesitantly issued orders. What followed was a relatively quick battle in which the Gengar ripped its opponents apart from their shadows. There were a few cheers and clapping afterwards, but in general the crowd was shaken by the spectacle.

The girl simply returned her Gengar and strode over to the medical facility as if she was used to that kind of reception. At that point in the tournament, the trainer's section in the bleachers was relatively silent. The trash talking by the trainers had since ceased and was replaced by competitive focus on the matches.

My curiosity got the better of me and I left the bleachers. I made my way to the pokemon medical facility where Dante was currently healing, and found the girl in the black shirt waiting nearby. "Excuse me, do you have a moment?" I asked.

She looked at me with dark brown eyes and a few seconds later sarcastically replied, "Well, well. The great MacAfee wants to speak with me? What an honor."

"You know who I am?" I asked, ignoring the sarcasm.

"Obviously. Let me guess; you want to know about Gengar," she said.

"Yes… I've been to Lavender Town and Professor Sharpe with the Paranormal Research Center couldn't tell me anything on them," I replied.

"So what makes you think I would?" she asked.

"I don't know. I guess I was just hoping you might be able to point me in the right direction. If not, then I was curious of how your Gengar changed when it evolved. More than physically," I explained, annoyed at the girl's rude demeanor.

The girl rolled her eyes and said, "Curiosity killed the Delcatty. You think your Haunter is mean and sadistic? A Gengar is ten times that. If you actually thought about how Gastly are created, and if you know anything about evolution, then you would know that certain traits evolve, too. A Gengar is everyone's worst nightmare; the Boogeyman. Did you ever think there was a reason for that?"

I quelled the urge to call her out on her rudeness. I was afraid of the answer, and she confirmed those fears, albeit less than amiably. Not wanting to interact with such an abrasive person any longer, I said, "I think you've told me all I needed to know… Thanks for your… input."

The girl scoffed, rolled her eyes again, and turned away. Returning to the bleachers, thought, _I hope evolving Gilles will not make me like her. _

Sheila was waiting for me expectantly. "What did you find out?"

"In a nutshell? That that girl is rude and that Gengar are mean," I replied, my annoyance still lingering. Sheila only laughed.

The remainder of round two passed by with me contemplating possible methods to evolve Gilles, and possible ways to permanently kill that troublesome Banette. Round three was the semifinal round, and I was bracketed with a boy whose stats read, **James Finney: 8-8 Gym Record; 1-0 Nugget Bridge.**

Despite being the semifinal match, the fight was relatively quick. I led with Dante and James led with a Venusaur. Dante stayed at a distance and attacked with psychic blades while dodging vine whips and a solar beam. Then he faced a Typhlosion who traded blows with Dante in close quarters before succumbing to Dante's superior skills.

The other semifinals match was between the girl, whose name was Annie, and a boy by the name of Tyrone. Tyrone led with a Lucario and Annie led with her Graveler. The Lucario made short work of the Graveler but then her Gengar defeated the Lucario just as easily as it had defeated her Graveler. The final battle was between Annie's Gengar and Tyrone's Houndoom.

Tyrone had managed to avoid using his Houndoom up until this point, so I was pleasantly surprised. It was a good opportunity to see how someone else was using a Houndoom's abilities. The first thing the Houndoom did was let out a howl and a dark pulse. The Dark Pulse was different, though. It spread out in every direction and then lingered. It was as if the arena was cast in dim lighting.

The lingering darkness seemed to have an effect on the Gengar as well. Whereas it could once move like water within the shadows, it was now forced to move regularly within the large bubble. In other words, the Dark Pulse was preventing the Gengar from using the shadows to its advantage.

The Gengar may have been significantly hampered, but it was not helpless. It was still fast and it still hit hard. The Houndoom took a hit by the Gengar's claws during its dark-type assault on the ghost, which left a deep, poisoned gash. However, in the end, the Houndoom's relentless use of Dark Pulses caused the Gengar's body to collapse before the ghost could defeat the hell hound.

With Annie's loss, I readied myself for a battle against a Lucario and the Houndoom. I still had not used Azrael, my second pokemon, so I had the advantage. Both the Lucario and the Houndoom looked like well-raised fighters, but I secretly believed that Azrael could take both of them without a problem. I was similarly confident in Dante's abilities.

Normally I would lead with Azrael because he was the wild card. But I was intensely curious about the Houndoom's pulse technique. It worked very well against ghost types, but I had a theory that it was useful for more than ghosts. To test my theory, I started with Dante.

Tyrone's stats read, **Tyrone Jenkins: 8-4 Gym Record; 2-1 Nugget Bridge; 2073 JIC Contestant. **

My opponent looked like he was deep in thought as we squared up. His stats had read that he participated in the JIC, but he did not even reach the top eight. He knew I was the champion, but despite that fact, he looked hopeful. It was as if this was a chance for him to upset an impressive record and gain some fame.

He led with his Houndoom, which broke his trend, and was very surprised when I led with Dante. He was obviously expecting me to lead with my hidden team mate. But even though he was surprised, a smile crept over his lips. His reaction only reaffirmed my theory. And if his reaction was not enough, the first thing he ordered his Houndoom to do was to use that pulse, yelling, "Trap him!"

The Houndoom let out the pulse and it quickly engulfed the entire area. _J'Kun! I cannot seem to teleport! _I heard in my head.

"Paralyze him and get in close!" I yelled. Dante issued an electric pulse that hit the Houndoom as it fired a line of fire at him. The Houndoom's muscles seized, which gave Dante enough time to run up to the hell hound and deliver an uncontested punch to its ribs. A _crack! _was heard and the Houndoom yelped. It quickly took advantage of a lull in its paralysis to fire a point-blank fireball into Dante, who was not quick enough to bring up his protective barrier.

The fire blast knocked Dante back, but he quickly recovered as I ordered him to use another brick break. Dante slammed his palm into the same place as before, and another sickening crunch was heard. This time, though, the trainer recalled his pokemon before Dante could injure him further.

"Good job, Dante, but I think it's Azrael's turn. Dante bowed to me before I switched him out for Azrael. Azrael gave an entrance bellow as he is wont to do, and stared down his opponent. Tyrone had a nervous expression which was stricken with hints of hopelessness. But he did not back down.

The Lucario sped diagonally to the side, but Azrael sent a strong Bulldoze surging towards it. The Lucario managed to jump high into the air and actually clear the wave. As it fell, it launched a focused blast that smote Azrael in the chest. Azrael roared and I ordered him to repeat the move. Once again, the Lucario jumped over the wave of earth. This time, however, as soon as the metal fighter left the ground, I yelled, "Tomb-and-Whip!"

I saw Tyrone's face fall as an expression of satisfaction crossed mine. The Lucario fell right into the tomb of quicksand, becoming completely buried. Azrael waited by the side, poised to finish the combo. No doubt Tyrone remembered the combo at the JIC, but he thought that his Lucario could take the hit because he did not return it.

The Lucario's metal-clawed hand appeared at the edge of the sand tomb and pulled its body up. About half of its body was out of the sand when Azrael's tail slammed into its side. The Lucario was thrown across the field and almost smashed into the bleachers. Of course the fans loved it and cheered instead of being fearful that a several-hundred-pound steel pokemon almost collided with them.

To the Lucario's credit, it rose to its feet after a short pause. I ordered Azrael to hold so that the Lucario could put some distance between itself and the stands. When it rushed forward and issued another Focus Blast, I stomped and slid my foot forward.

Azrael dug into the earth and erupted underneath the Lucario seconds later, launching it into the air. As it sailed above Azrael, I told him to use Flamethrower, but the Tyrone recalled the Lucario before it could be massacred.

The crowd cheered as I was announced the winner for my third consecutive Nugget Bridge challenge. I could not help but think that it was unbearably easy. Never once did I feel strained, which almost took the thrill out of the tournament. It made me think that in order to find the kind of thrill that I was looking for, I would need to earn more badges and defeat the Elite 4.

The award for my third victory in a row at the 7-8 badge level was a gold nugget, 750PB, and the choice of any elemental stone. I chose to look at it economically. I knew that my current thunderstone was too small for Lazarus, and that the thunderstone I could choose here would be about the right size. However, I also knew that dusk stones were the most valuable of the elemental stones, and that I could sell one for enough money to buy an adequate thunderstone while also having a little left over.

I chose the most valuable and then purchased what I needed. True enough, I ended up with the thunderstone and 250PB. After that, I immediately left the city with Sheila to experiment with the stone.

We teleported a few miles north and I released my team. I hefted the stone and said to Lazarus, "Let's see what you can do. What do you say?" Lazarus excitedly listened while I told him to put as much electricity into an attack as possible and release it into the stone.

I backed up a fair distance before telling him to begin. He held the stone in his hand and he glowed before emptying a powerful thunderbolt into the stone. He lifted the stone in the air for me to see, and I saw it faintly glowing. "Oh well, I guess it was a little optimistic to think that you would get in on the first try. Don't worry, we'll get you there," I said, walking back to him.

As I reached out for the stone, Sheila yelled out, "STOP! Don't touch it!" I stopped short and looked at her confused. "Those stones hold the charge for a little while, you dope! Do you think you can take a full thunderbolt from Lazarus?"

I felt my cheeks heat up. "I guess it would be better not to be a lightning rod…"

"Ya think?" Sheila said sarcastically.

So I waited. I waited around half an hour, during which time the stone gradually stopped glowing. When I thought it was safe, I picked it up, only to get electrocuted by what remained in the stone, which was actually quite a lot. The shock caused me to fall over and my muscles to tense for several seconds. As I lay on the ground, my body wracked with spasms, Azrael descended on me with concern.

When I recovered, I coughed and sat up with Azrael's help. "So much for not being a lightning rod…"

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

A couple of days later, I once again met at Aoro's house in Pewter City early in the morning. Sheila did not accompany me, as I thought it would have been rude to invite her. Instead, she stayed with her sister for the time being. When I arrived, Aoro was midway through packing his supplies onto his Fearow.

"Morning, Zachariah!" he proclaimed with a wave.

"Good morning," I replied. "How are you?"

"Can't complain. Will be better when we get to the valley," he responded.

"Same place as last time, then?" I asked.

"Yeah, same place. Hurry up and get set up," he told me, tightening a strap around his duffle bag. "I would rather get there before sundown if you don't mind."

I wasted no time releasing Azrael and packing my things onto him. After I finished, we took to the sky heading north. Aoro had exaggerated about the flight time, for it only took us a couple of hours to arrive. When we touched down, we made camp and released our teams. Upon doing so, Aoro said, "Well look what we have here!" looking at Lazarus and Saraph. "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting your Electabuzz or your Charmeleon."

Saraph stared at Aoro, trying to intimidate him, which caused Aoro to laugh. "True to the line of Charizard! You don't scare me!" Saraph bared her teeth defiantly and a tongue of fire licked through their gaps. "You think you're tough?" he asked. "I think it's time we established who should be afraid of who!"

With that, Aoro's team lined up beside him. "So, Lazarus and Saraph, this is my team. This is Crusher, Samus, Reaper, Brawler, Dice, and Coco," he introduced, pointing at his Aggron, Golem, Kabutops, Poliwrath, Scizor, and Exeggutor respectively. "And this is Fry and Marla," he finished, pointing at his Fearow and Blissey respectively.

"We are going to whip you all into shape for the next five weeks. I bet you all think you're hot shit right now, but you still have a lot to learn. You all have done well with what I've taught you so far, but it isn't good enough! EVERY attack must be blocked! Not just when it's convenient or easy. We strive for perfection!

"You want to compete with the best teams? You want to win against them? Then throw away your pride and submit to perfection! We will not go easy. You've had our sympathy before, but inexperience is no longer an excuse! You want to be the best? Then you train like the best. You will feel pain! You will be pushed past your limits! But you will succeed! You will feel victory in the end! Now get your asses to that cliff and back! Last one back starts the game of bludgeon tag!" he barked, pointing a cliff roughly three miles away.

As the pokemon sped off, Aoro yelled, "NO FLYING" and then stuck a hand out in front of Saraph. "You will watch for now. You do not have experience with this game, so it is unfair for you to participate."

Saraph was not happy, and she blew a small ember onto Aoro's outstretched hand. Quicker than she could react, Aoro jabbed towards her, grabbed her tongue while her mouth was open, and lifted his arm into the air. Saraph was put in an extremely uncomfortable position. I only stared dumbfounded at his aggressive show of dominance and listened as he said, "Let's get something straight! I will have obedience here! You may think that just because you are not participating right now that the rules on perfection do not apply to you. You are wrong!"

Saraph groaned and struggled. She reached up and tore at Aoro's arms with her razor-sharp claws, but she only left white pressure lines on his skin that faded shortly thereafter. I thought with a grimace that if she had done the same to my arm, I might not have one left.

"Now, since you are so eager to begin the lesson, get your ass to the cliff and back, too! For every minute I have to wait after the last of the others gets back, you start a day of Bludgeon Tag!" He let go of Saraph's tongue and she snarled at him before racing off on all-fours.

About twenty minutes later, I was not surprised to see Ceto arrive last. And so, without allowing her to rest, or any of the others for that matter, Aoro ordered the game to begin. My team was able to take a few more hits from Aoro's team this year compared to last year. In the year between our training camps, I had helped them to improve their abilities to deflect, dodge, and block.

Of course they were nowhere near perfect. And Lazarus and Saraph were unsurprisingly less attuned to Aoro's defensive training than the rest of their teammates - Saraph simply because of a lack of experience on my team, and Lazarus similarly so, though he at least had some experience with it.

Aoro did not let his team go easy on any of my pokemon apart from Saraph. He started easy on Lazarus, but was holding him to his team's standard by the end of the first week. Saraph never advanced far enough throughout the training camp to take normal hits from Aoro's elite pokemon without being knocked out instantly, though she did advance to a roughly similar point at which the rest of my team had been the previous year in regard to defense.

During the course of the training camp, I lost count of how many times a member of my team passed out or was knocked out. Every night my team relished the chance to rest in their pokeballs, except for Azrael, who chose to sleep with me instead. I could relate to their exhaustion, for Aoro worked me comparatively hard. Every morning started a three mile jog, which increased to five miles by the end of camp. Immediately afterwards, and with no rest, we began sparring practice in which Aoro relentlessly used me as a punching bag despite my desperate attempts to defend myself. And every other day we would climb that damned cliff face.

It only took me a week to reach the point where I did not fall at any point during my climb. But then Aoro started upping the ante. Two weeks in, Aoro started ordering his Fearow, Fry, to buffet us with gusts of wind to make the climb more difficult. A week after that, Aoro started setting a timed pace, and by the end of camp, he was timing every climb with the stipulation that we lower it each and every time. Luckily for me, in spite of my body's physical protests, I drove myself to beat my time every climb.

The rest of the camp was spent guiding our teams, learning with them about our capabilities, exercising, and conducting objectives operations. The objectives operations were introduced after a week and a few days, during which time Aoro would occasionally ask me about my travels and experiences as if he was searching for something. I suspected that he was not being forthcoming about what he really wanted to discuss, and the day that the operations were introduced, my suspicions were confirmed.

It began with a simple conversation. I had told Aoro that I was interested in joining Ace during one of our jogs, and he had replied, "You wanna try for ACE, do yeh? Why?"

"Because only the best trainers can. And like you told me last year, it is the duty of those of us capable of protecting the balance of power between pokemon and humans to preserve that balance so that humanity can continue to exist," I explained to him, cutting through the overgrown makeshift jogging path.

"A noble answer," Aoro replied, staying beside me. "But to say it is your duty does not imply that it is something you desire. Of course it doesn't imply the opposite, but the point is that it implies an obligation instead of desire."

"I want to be the best," I responded without hesitation. "Responsibility comes with the territory."

"So service is a secondary motivation?" Aoro asked. "And you want to join Ace primarily to prove that you are the best?"

I understood how simple it sounded by the way he asked. "I do want to be the best, but I would say that instead of being a secondary motive, it's actually a contingent motive. I can help people right now, but my impact would be much greater if I was capable of doing things that no one else could. The best way I can think of using my power as the best trainer is to help people who need it. To me, they both go hand-in-hand, but one is necessary for the other."

We ran along in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Aoro said, "That is acceptable to me. I can, in good conscience, foster the development of a leader with those motives. However, I still want to know to whom you are referring when you say that you want to help people."

We reached a small stream and splashed through. "Civilization in general, I suppose," I responded, taken off guard. "Why do you ask?"

"There are many different types of people with different goals. Right now, the government of Hoenn is sanctioning attacks on an entirely peaceful group of people – those of the Sevii Islands – because they believe that they are doing those people a favor. Are those the people you wish to help?" Aoro pressed.

"This is starting to sound like an interrogation," I proclaimed, slowing down a little.

Aoro slowed down as well and we came to a halt. "I just want to know who I am training. It takes great sacrifice and great resolve to be Ace, including the ability to set aside personal ambition for the sake of the mission."

Something about the way he talked to me spoke of an underlying wisdom. "You sound like you know a lot about Ace."

"I do. I was a Major in the Ace corps," Aoro replied.

"A-an officer?" I stammered.

"Yes, I even served as Captain over Leader Williamson's squad during the Sinnoh Incursion, and I was promoted to Major during the Johto Nationalist Uprising," he recounted, a sparkle in his eye showing an underlying flashback.

"But we did not get involved with the Johto uprising…" I said, fearing the answer which inevitably followed. The Uprising was quelled after almost five years of terroristic activity by people who wanted to establish Johto as an official "best nation in the world," much like Hoenn. They killed non-Johtans in the name of superiority. From what I remember about my history lessons, there never seemed to be a shortage of large groups being formed around killing innocent people.

"Of course we didn't," Aoro said with a wink. "Anyway, I have a career in Ace behind me, so sometimes it is difficult to escape. You can probably grasp that much. After all, I'm sure you remember I was there at Meteor Camp Delta 3A. And while we're on that topic, you looked like you had just crawled out of hell itself; welts all over your body; not to mention the blood. I want to know what happened."

Instantly, my blood ran cold. I could see the face of Lazarus's trainer flash in my memory, covered in blood, lifeless. "You can tell me, Zachariah," Aoro said.

"I-I told Elite McGall everything. Did you not hear from him?" I asked, my voice shaky.

"I want to hear it from you. I want to see it from your eyes. The League has its eye on you, and before we went off the grid, there was probably someone listening to everything you said. That PokeDex is more than just a tool for you, you know? It is also a tool for the League to keep tabs on its members."

I recoiled at the thought that my PokeDex was spying on me. I did not have to worry about it at the moment, seeing as how it was back at camp, but I was deeply unsettled. "I want to know what happened, Zachariah. I'm going to level with you. I hope you can see it logically and for what it is. I asked you out here for two reasons. The first, and far more important, is that I want to help you train for the next step. I've seen potential in you since you entered my gym. The second is that I need to know what happened at that Meteor base. As your mentor, I hope you can understand why I need to know. My work has gone into shaping you. I don't want to hear only what you are comfortable recounting. I want to hear the truth."

My sweat from the jog had turned cold. "I know it affects you, Zachariah. I can see it. Please."

Finally, I said, "…I went in to save a kid. But I also went in with the desire to kill. To kill monsters. The kid was a convenient excuse…" I could feel my eyes welling up. "But in the process, I found myself more concerned about saving that kid. Getting back at the Meteors was satisfying at first… But when I actually saw the kid being carried out by his Machoke… That became the priority. I almost felt like putting him at the forefront of my focus, over the din of murderous monsters… I wanted nothing more than to save him. And when they killed him…" Tears were running down my cheek as I choked up.

Aoro put a large hand on my shoulder and pressured me into a sitting position. He sat beside me and said, "Hate is a powerful force. It can drive people to extraordinary lengths. But hate is an emotion. A leader strives to move past emotion. Wanting to save someone who needed your help; _that _is principle. That is noble. Even if you went in with less than noble intentions, you say that the principle of saving the helpless was the dominant drive."

Aoro's explanation made me realize that I never actually had negative flashbacks to carnage that I wrought. My traumatic memories had more to do with Lazarus's trainer being killed in front of me. My traumatic memories had more to do with the truly monstrous quality of Prescott's and Nicole's mindsets, and the inhumanity of my own actions towards Prescott.

"You need say no more. Your mind is a volatile thing, Zachariah. You must strive to cultivate a healthy, balanced mindset and not to give in to emotion when lives are at stake," Aoro said, squeezing my shoulder. "That I cannot help you with. But I can help you prepare for the practical side.

"If you are truly serious about joining ACE, then I can help you prepare," Aoro continued. "ACE is the most difficult service to join for good reasons. The Rangers protect civilization with the help and comradery of pokemon. The military protects civilization with the help of weaponry. Ace must be better than both. They use both pokemon and weaponry, or are better than one with the other. They must succeed where the other two fail.

"Ace teams are comprised of both pokemon and humans with deadly effectiveness. If you want to join Ace, then you must be just as competent as your pokemon in a fight while also being able to work with other people and their pokemon. Conversely, your pokemon must be able to work with other people and their pokemon, and any other combination thereof. You and your team must be versatile, smart, and in turn, deadly, because Ace responsibilities include target neutralization, reconnaissance, infiltration, retrieval, and so on."

"We can learn," I said eagerly.

"Good," Aoro replied. "Because starting tomorrow, I am going to start training you in objective scenarios to develop strategy and team dynamic. Most Ace teams are made up of three to five people, and they each bring one to two pokemon on missions depending on the nature of the mission and the specializations required. That means that there will be a host of pokemon working with you that belong to other trainers and vice versa.

"To get your team comfortable working with other people and pokemon, we will be mixing it up. Luckily for you, my team is comfortable working with other people if they are shown respect and if I tell them to. In the future, the pokemon you team up with may not be comfortable working with you, so here are some basic guidelines to establish respect and build rapport…"

Aoro's lessons then evolved to lethal combat training instead of sparring for physical exercise, though we continued to do the latter on the side. We started holding the objectives scenarios every other day, alternating with our cliff scrambles.

The scenarios that Aoro conducted included Capture the Flag, retrieval or planting operations, and recon operations where we had to trail Aoro or his pokemon without them noticing and record what they did over a certain length of time.

To set the stage for the operations, certain ground and rock types from Aoro's and my team created underground tunnel arenas, and we all worked together to make above-ground scenario fields quickly. Sometimes we would even use the entire valley for day-long operations.

During the operations, Aoro would assign the teams. Sometimes he joined me and put some of his pokemon together with mine. Other times he mixed our teams up in other ways. It was all to develop a versatile mindset for me and my team, which was difficult at first. Working alone with my team was what I was exceptional at, but in the end, my ability to lead my team, regardless of its composition, flourished. Aoro took note of this after a few weeks and told me that it was a good sign.

By the end of the third week, there had been noticeable improvement with my team. Out of my entire team, Saraph improved the most. Her skill and her level rose quickly, but her body was not yet ready to evolve despite the rate at which she improved. When I mentioned that to Aoro, he explained that having an expert or elite team gives a trainer the ability to quickly develop new members of his or her team. Unfortunately, the process is a form of power-leveling.

"Pokemon still need to physically develop before they can evolve; some moreso than others," he explained. "Saraph will need at a least a couple months before she will evolve at her current physical state, even with the exceptional training she is receiving. Just pay attention to her needs while training her further. Make sure that she is receiving enough protein to support her changing body. If she hurts herself from straining too hard, make sure she rests."

I took what he said to heart and made a mental note to keep an eye on Saraph. She had warmed up to me since I started training when she realized that I offered a valuable opportunity for her to grow quickly. However, that was not the same as her viewing us as her family. She was still very independent and sometimes extremely stubborn when taking orders. It felt like a begrudging acceptance, rather than eagerness, whenever she agreed to follow through with my commands.

It was a matter of time. I had only been working with her for a month and a half, so of course she was not going to be as loyal as the rest of my team. More time needed to pass for me to build rapport with the small dragon and for her to accept the team as her family. Until then, I could only help her grow stronger.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

I lay flat on the ground, my face brushing the soft grass. It was dark, but I could see a small light cutting through the darkness. I knew that Dante was being held in an area half of a square mile in size at the center of the valley, but I did not know where in that area. He was held captive specifically so that he could not translate for me.

This was our fifth scenario, and trying to communicate with a team of both Aoro's pokemon and mine without a translator was slowly becoming easier. Trainers can develop the ability to convey intentions nonverbally to their pokemon, and Dante's presence only stifled my need to develop that ability. Our goal was to find Dante, free him, and leave with as little commotion as possible.

We also needed to abide by certain rules. I could use my bow, but without tips, to hit any of my opponents. Depending on where they were hit dictated what they could do. If I hit them in the head, they were required to fall to the ground and lay there until they were found. If I hit them in the chest or back, they were allowed to cry out before falling. If I hit them anywhere else, then they were free to act normally.

For our pokemon, they were allowed to sneak up on each other in order to land a valid hit. If they succeeded, then their prey would need to fall to the ground and wait. Of course, if the defending pokemon saw the attack coming, it could cry out as well and defend itself. Once on the ground, the pokemon could be moved, if the mover was capable of doing so.

We had finally made a move towards the center of the valley and had encountered patrolling pokemon. I only traveled with Rufus outside of his pokeball, and I only had the pokeballs of him, Ceto, Lazarus, and Reaper in my possession. We had chosen to wait several hours until the sun dipped below the horizon and plunged us all into nocturnal darkness before advancing, and it seemed to be the right decision. We were able to sneak past Aoro's enormous starter, Crusher, but as we started closing in on the center of the valley, I grew more cautious.

So far, Aoro had won every scenario that we had enacted, but I felt confident this time. Rufus and I had been working on a new technique inspired by the Houndoom at the Nugget Bridge in order to combat a significant weakness that had been our undoing in past scenarios. The technique allowed us to hide in more ways than one.

At the moment, we were hiding in between two bushes where we could see the fire from Saraph's tail moving through the forest. I looked to Rufus and waved my palm across my face. He reacted by sending out a dark pulse that encapsulated an area of about ten feet in diameter around us. The sound of the pulse was muffled and the darkness provided by the pulse lingered. We were now within an area more devoid of light than anywhere else, which was an effective way to hide from Saraph.

I had my bow across my chest at the ready, but it was not for Saraph. Saraph held a constant natural light source about her, which made her unique. She was easy to spot, which would make her a prime target. I knew that Aoro was aware of that, so not taking her out was a wise choice. The bow was for her backup. Since Saraph stood out so easily, she was bound to have a partner in case I made the mistake of attacking her.

I waited for her to pass before I released Lazarus and Reaper. Aoro's Kabutops was beside me in the darkened bubble. The pulse hid the flashes of light from the pokeballs, but it did not dampen the noise that they made, which is why I had waited for Saraph to pass by. Then we waited inside the bubble.

A few minutes later, I noticed the silhouette of a large shrub moving through the area. I smiled. It was perfect. The second cover that the dark bubble offered us was the cover from psychic derivation. We were hidden from Coco's ability to find us psychically, which gave us the opportunity to mount an effective attack against it.

I took out an arrow and motioned to Reaper before moving that hand alongside the arrow through the air. It was the order for a simultaneous attack. Then I pointed at Reaper, pointed to the ground, and motioned to the far side of the moving plant. Reaper then dug down into the ground while I motioned Rufus to hold tight. He could maintain the cover, but moving around while doing so was still difficult for him. Then, I pointed at Lazarus and clenched a fist.

I carefully lined up a shot while Lazarus tensed beside me. I exhaled and released the arrow. It made a light whistling noise as it sailed through the air, but it stopped several feet away from one of the Exeggutor's four coconut-like heads in mid-air. It looked around, not being able to detect us in the dark cover, and I motioned for my team to act. The Exeggutor's body twisted around and deflected a scythe from Aoro's large arthropod with its knee.

Less than a second later, Lazarus's electrified fist slammed into Coco's back. Coco flew forward into Reaper from the impact and recovered. It paused and three of the four coconut heads twisted around to hide their faces, leaving one with a pouting expression. It sat down on the ground reluctantly afterward.

I smiled and motioned Rufus forward, his cover dissipating as he obeyed. When I reached them, I whispered, "Let's move him into brush," and we all pushed him into the nearest bush. I returned all of them except for Rufus after some brief praise.

Keeping most of my team in their pokeballs as opposed to outside had many benefits. Less pokemon out meant less chance to get caught; we left less evidence to track, we would cause our opponents to be wary of other locations when they did not see all of us together, and it lessened the burden on me to keep tabs on multiple pokemon.

So, with Rufus by my side, we continued on, keeping quiet. In the moonlight with no other sources of illumination, we were able to pass unseen, with the moon providing me with enough light to see where I was going. After about 20 minutes, we started hearing the gurgling of the stream that cut the valley in half. When we arrived at its banks, I stopped to think.

Within a couple of minutes, I had thought of a way to get across without drawing attention to us. I waved my hand over my face again, and Rufus let out his dark pulse-cover. Then I released Ceto and looked at Rufus. I pointed to the far side of the 25-foot-wide stream.

Rufus moved back, letting his cover dissipate, and then sprinted towards the water's edge. When he reached the water, he jumped. In the dark, his body turned pitch black and elongated like a solid shadow that warped through the air and over the river. He landed on the other side, his body materializing as his momentum carried him a few extra yards away from the river.

I then looked down to Ceto and angled my arm like a spear towards the stream. Grabbing ahold of Ceto's crest and standing on her tail, which she angled back for a foothold, I prepared myself for travel across the river. Ceto used a wave to get us across, displacing much of the water around her until we reached the other side where we emerged on the shore.

I patted Ceto on the head and returned her to her pokeball under Rufus's cover. We progressed further, entering the zone where Dante was kept. Eventually, after almost an hour of moving silently, we came to the edge of clearing in which Dante was tied to a dead tree. I looked around and saw no one guarding him.

Immediately, I grew wary. I looked up and around, but saw nothing. Then, with realization, I looked at the ground. I held very still and told Rufus to cover us once more while I released Ceto. I looked at her, pointed to the ground, made a levitation motion with my palm, pointed at Dante, and then climbed on her back once more.

We slowly levitated across the clearing to Dante, and when we arrived, I cut his bonds. I made sure to not throw them on the ground, for Azrael might be lurking below us and might detect their impact. To get us all back, I had Ceto return Dante first while I hung from the dead tree. Ceto then returned for me and transported us back to the tree line.

I held back a smile of triumph, for the mission was only halfway complete. I returned Ceto and allowed Dante to ride on the back of Rufus. Then I set a return course divergent from my original path. When I was halfway to the river, I noticed the light of Saraph's tail drawing nearer from up ahead and to the side.

I curved my course away from Saraph to avoid her, but during the next ten minutes, her tail seemed to still be moving towards us despite our attempts to elude her. I made the decision then to take her out of the game. I readied my bow and hid in a bush.

About five minutes later, Saraph moved through the area with her snout pointed upwards. I took that opportunity to release an arrow, which sailed through the air and hit her muzzle. She recoiled with a small jet of fire from her throat and looked at the direction from where it had come with a pissed off expression. Without hesitation, Saraph stomped on my arrow and broke it in half.

That pissed me off, but I did not make a scene that would alert anyone to our position. Instead, I begrudgingly allowed Saraph to get away with it. In turn, she seemed disappointed when she did not receive a reaction. With a mopey grumble, she sat down on the ground and started breaking the halves of my arrow into smaller pieces.

Soon after we started moving again, we heard a distant roar in the direction from which Saraph had come. I took that as a queue to pick up the pace. I moved towards the river at an angle away from the roar, but not long after, I heard another roar that sounded distinctly like Azrael's coming from the direction in which I was heading. I was then forced to run to the river straight on so that I was not heading closer to either of my opponents.

Less than ten minutes later we heard the gurgle of the river ahead. With some urgency, we started running towards it. While I ran, I took out Ceto's pokeball. I aimed it in front of me so that she would not need to go very far, but before I touched the button to release her, my foot caught something in the grass. I fell forward as my leg was yanked back and up, and my head hit the ground hard before I was pulled into the air. My vision was foggy for a few moments, and I had dropped Ceto's pokeball.

I looked down to see Rufus trying to defend himself from Dice, Aoro's Scizor. But before I could issue any commands, I heard a whistle from the tree branches directly beside me. I looked to see Aoro sitting on a branch and giving me a little wave. I pulled my fists up in front of me into a defensive position.

"Ha! You think you can fight your way outta this one, Zachariah?" Aoro asked with a laugh. "Look beside you."

I looked to my right to see nothing but trees, but then all of a sudden, a glaring ghostly visage appeared with a scream right in front of me, causing me to recoil with fright. The sound of Gilles laughing then filled the air as I hung helplessly. I sighed.

"That's right, Zachariah. Now where did you go wrong?" Aoro asked.

"I don't know… I attacked Coco?" I asked, feeling the blood running to my head.

"Good answer. But wrong," Aoro said, allowing his legs to swing from the branch. "It was before then. You crossed the river and affected the flow. The ripple traveled downstream which alerted Brawler that you had come from this general direction. Then, you took out Coco. You were almost fast enough to keep her from sending out a small distress call. What was your fatal mistake?"

I sighed again. "I don't know. Can you let me down from here!?" I asked, swinging back and forth upside-down.

"Nah, I think we can hang out here for a little while longer," he said with a shameless chuckle at his own pun. "Your fatal mistake was letting yourself get funneled into this trap. It was pretty obvious that you were being led."

I frowned, making sense of what he said. I had played into his hands once more in these scenarios. My frustration was temporarily abetted when I felt Gilles scratching at my raised calf, creating a tickling sensation. "Stop it, Gilles!" I yelled, but he only cackled in response and intensified his tickling.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

The end of our training camp drew to a close much too early, it seemed. My pokemon had grown leaps and bounds in more ways than one. My team as a whole was tougher than ever, had faster reflexes with which to dodge, block, counter, or protect, and they all were measurably stronger. We also had a much closer dynamic as a result of working together as a team to accomplish Aoro's scenarios.

Apart from the overall improvement, each of my pokemon improved something else personal to themselves. Azrael's scales grew harder and thicker, and I had given him the TM for Stone Edge with which he was growing proficient.

Gilles was faster than ever, and his mass seemed darker than ever before. Instead of being able to easily see through him, his mass was almost tangible. Furthermore, his Nightmare technique was growing superb.

Rufus and I worked on and made progress with the dark covering technique. By the end of camp, Rufus was keeping his Dark Pulse stationary around him for long periods of time, but it would drop if he was strained too much and lost focus. He also improved further with his shadow melding ability.

Ceto improved with her rain dance ability, being able to call upon more quantities of water than ever. Her scales also hardened and thickened like Azrael's.

Dante was always improving his distance and stamina with teleportation, and his speed and power increased by a greater margin.

Lazarus improved in his speed and power, but more notably in the latter. It seemed that it was all he was allowed to do in his free time in order to raise the power behind his electricity. He even started learning how to use the most powerful electric technique known - Thunder. It was only rudimentary by the end of camp, and unfortunately, he was still not strong enough to create an electrilizer by the time we left.

Lastly, Saraph improved measurably in almost all aspects of combat. She had grown about a foot over the month, and her scales were darkening. Most notably to my relief, she had started to act more friendly towards my team, as if she was gradually coming to respect us. She still had much farther to go, but I picked up on the subtle signs that she gave, such as actually listening the first time I gave an order.

Overall, my team had never been in better shape, and I was very confident in our abilities. Aoro's training had even affected me personally.

On our last cliffside ascent, I actively tried to pass up Aoro, but of course that was impossible. He just always knew where to grab onto, and it seemed like he never tired. The wind that battered us from Fry's gusts hardly seemed to affect him at all, but they occasionally knocked me off balance and forced me to pause in order to catch and stabilize myself.

He reached the top of the cliff five minutes before me, and when I reached the top, we immediately started sparring. He jabbed the side of his palm towards my throat and I blocked it to the side. I then followed up with an elbow to his sternum but he countered that with his own elbow, smashing it against mine to inflict a little pain in the process.

We continued to counter each other for around ten minutes before Aoro changed the game. It transitioned into a light boxing match, though any hit from the gigantic man was not light by any stretch of the imagination. That lasted longer – around fifteen minutes – until we took a break.

"Your hits have gotten stronger," Aoro remarked, rubbing his forearms and sitting down on a large rock. "It's rather remarkable actually. It usually takes a lot to make me feel a punch. I must be getting old."

"You getting old? Ha!" I commented, sitting down beside him. "I can't imagine you being old."

Aoro let out a booming laugh and said, "I can't imagine it either!"

We sat in silence for a while until I asked, "How old were you when you beat the Elite 4?"

"Ahh. I was 30 years old. I can remember it all clearly.

"30?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I spent three years in the Ranger Corps and another ten in Ace. Took me less than a year to beat all of 'em when I left. My team was hardened, fresh-out-of-service soldiers when we got out. And then I took the place of Leader Pile two years later after I beat his team and he retired."

"I suppose beating a gym leader's team is necessary to take his place?" I asked, unfamiliar with the particulars of gym leader appointment.

"Yes, it is necessary to beat a leader's team, unless they retire on their own. But even if you do beat their team, there is no guarantee that you will take their place. They have to be willing to step down, or sometimes they like to take the trainer in for a few years to learn the ropes first. That's why you see a bunch of gym trainers at the gyms. They are learning from their role models so that one day, if they manage to beat the gym leader, they can take on the role as quickly as possible, assuming the gym leader wants to step down."

"I see," I said, leaning back on my hands.

"But anyway, I've been the Pewter City gym leader for 22 years now, but I can still remember the feeling of taking on the Elites," Aoro said, a glimmer of nostalgia in his eyes. "Not much can top that. I get reminded of that feeling every once in a while when someone decides to challenge my team, but nothing has since come close. Maybe one day you'll know what I mean."

"Maybe?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Aoro laughed. "Yeah. Maybe." Aoro looked up at the sky and said, "I've trained you for over a month now. Have you given any thought to the Indigo Conference?" He had a serious look in his eye.

"Maybe after a few years," I replied.

"Well, it's good that you know you won't win if you enter the tournament now," he continued seriously. "But I think it would still be a good experience for you. You won't win, but you'll learn a lot about the kind of competition you will be facing. No Junior Indigo Champion has ever turned around and won the next Indigo Conference. With that in mind, I have an invitation for you." Aoro reached into one of his pockets, retrieved an embroidered letter, and handed it to me.

The golden winged pokeball was emblazoned at the top of the letter, which read,

_The Indigo Pokemon League is pleased to extend this invitation to Zachariah MacAfee, trainer ID KA523VI979E, 2073 Junior Indigo Champion to the 2075 Indigo Conference. As is customary, you have been granted this privilege as a result of your exceptional performance at the previous Junior Indigo Conference. _

_Your response and registration are needed before December 11 at 11:59 P.M. to reserve your place at the most prestigious competition in Kanto. Should you accept, further instructions will be emailed to you. Congratulations on being chosen to compete in the Indigo Conference!_

_With the warmest felicitations,_

_Indigo League President James Dawley_

I mulled it over for a while. Eventually, Aoro said, "Think about it. You have a long time to make a decision. Keep me posted either way."

I nodded and stowed the letter away. I would need to think about it more. After all, I had never entered a tournament that I thought I could not win. To enter into a tournament with the expectation of losing was not a palatable idea. Still, to participate in the Indigo Conference not even two years after completing the circuit was a great honor, regardless of whether or not my junior champion status was the reason I was invited. And to think of what I would see there; the caliber of competition I would experience!

It was a difficult decision, but it did not take long for me to make up my mind. By the time the bright rays of sunlight peeked over the mountains the next morning and woke me from my sleep, I was set on my decision. I let Aoro know during breakfast.

He was cooking the remainder of the Grumpig bacon, and the sound of sizzling meat crackled in the morning air. While I waited on a downed tree trunk, I declared, "I know it's only been a day, but I've actually already made up my mind about the tournament," taking in the smell of bacon.

"Care to elaborate?" he pushed.

I looked up at Azrael, whose head and neck rose above me despite him resting on the ground beside me. "I'm going to do it," I said with a smile.

Aoro smiled and said, "That's good. But, a word of advice since you're probably thinking that you can pull off a victory." I frowned, because in all honesty I _did_ harbor thoughts of achieving a spectacular victory. "Don't you take any unnecessary risks in the ring. These fights are on a level you've never experienced before. So if you encounter a moment where your pokemon is about to take a hit, and you're unsure about whether they can or not, then err on the side of caution and return it. Your reflexes are great, so use them to protect your team. Do NOT underestimate your opponents. The price you'll pay for being wrong is not worth the gamble."

Aoro's words managed to make me think. I was deep in thought when a scalding hot piece of bacon landed in my lap. I jumped and burned my hand in an attempt to save it from falling to the ground. "Aaargh!" I shrieked, hearing Aoro laughing. "You really need to stop doing that! The first time was enough, let alone the next ten!"

Aoro only laughed louder, which I did not appreciate. I frowned, but my mood instantly brightened when the bacon cooled enough to eat. Leaning back against Azrael, I delighted in its taste until it was time to leave, at which point we packed up and flew back to Pewter.

When we arrived, I thanked Aoro enthusiastically and then allowed Dante to teleport me to Viridian City. It only took him two jumps to get us to my parents' house, and when we appeared, we found Sheila talking to my parents on the porch.

Our sudden arrival accompanied with a _pop! _caused my mother to drop her drink. Dante, in an amazing display of quick reflexes and good manners, teleported beside her and caught the glass cup before it hit the floor and shattered. He then presented it to her with a humble bow.

Sheila laughed and said, "Good save, Dante! Though you wouldn't have had to do it if you hadn't scared her in the first place." Dante only shrugged. Less than a second later, Shade appeared next to Sheila with her blue eyes glowing. When she saw that the disturbance was Dante and I, her eyes dimmed and she gave a disapproving frown.

"Thank you anyway, Dante," my mother said. "So how was training?" she asked. "Did he teach you anything useful?"

"Loads," I replied plainly.

"Anything exciting?" she continued.

"Well," I said, pulling out my gilded letter. "I'm going to the Indigo Conference!"

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Expert Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979E**

**Active Pokemon: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

Lazarus – Electabuzz

**Pokemon in Preparation:**

Saraph – Charmeleon

**Expert Trainer: Sheila Farris; HOMA884457E**

**Active Pokemon: **

Kara – Roserade

Larry – Ampharos

Shade – Gardevoir

Wilbur – Walrein

Thomas – Breloom

Geo – Torterra

**Pokemon in Preparation:**

Squall – Pidgeotto

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

Author's note:

Well another one down! I know that the dark aspect of the story has been lacking as of late, but don't worry; there is still plenty more that I want to write about. At this point, the first chapter of Zachariah's journey (i.e. the Indigo League) is over, but a new one is about to begin. It might start out a little slow, but I have plans… Oh such plans do I have… Great plans! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Zachariah was beaten at the Dojo and in the rescue activity, but he succeeded in other places. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think; I look forward to reading the reviews! Thanks, and Happy Holidays!


	26. Chapter 26: Howling Hunters

Chapter 26

With the end of my current obligations came a goalless freedom that had a more stressful than liberating effect. Throughout the past two years, I had always had a tangible short-term goal ahead of me: Train for the next gym. Beat that gym. Train for the Nugget Bridge. Beat the Nugget Bridge. Having no immediate goal to work towards left me feeling anxious.

That feeling of being a drifter hit me less than two days after my return home, at which point I started seriously researching Ace Trainer Corps. To be eligible for Ace Corps, one must complete at least one year of service in the Ranger Corps or at least two years in the Indigo Armed Service. Every year, Ace Boot Camp is held during Ranger Boot Camp at an undisclosed location to weed out those who do not have the resolve or skill to be Ace.

With that knowledge, I needed to choose between military and trainer service, and of course I chose trainer service, which was Ranger Corps. The Ranger Corps had a single start day for new recruits every year, and that day was Boot Camp. Boot Camp ran from the beginning of March to the end of May, coinciding with the yearly wave of new trainers who were beginning their journeys.

In fact, many Rangers' beginning post was near Viridian and Pewter so that they could assist lower-level trainers until their teams were experienced enough to deal with more difficult posts, such as the far western routes and wilderness outposts.

Unfortunately for me, I had missed Boot Camp for this year, which left me with nearly a full year in limbo. Sheila let me know that she would be finishing up the Indigo League, and that I was very much welcome to join her. I could think of no better use of my time than to travel and train with her while I searched for wild Houndour and Houndoom to kickstart my branch of the family business.

Within a week of my return from Aoro's camp, Sheila and I were preparing to leave. Sheila scheduled a gym battle with Leader Kay and planned to have Shade teleport her to Saffron on the day before her battle. Unfortunately for me, I would need to take a commercial teleport because Dante's teleportation skills were not strong enough to take us all the way to Saffron before he tired out.

My parents were not very happy that I was leaving so soon, but they were more accepting of my decisions nowadays. It was with reluctant good will that my parents saw me and Sheila off on the fourth of June. Sheila disappeared with Shade, and I had Dante teleport me to Pallet Town so that he could get some teleporting practice before I paid for a teleport to Saffron City.

Upon arrival, I signed in for a room at a Pokemon Center and waited for Sheila, who arrived a little over two hours later. I had a sandwich from the cafeteria waiting for her, which gave her a smile as she sat down beside me. It was calm; only a few people aside from us in the Pokemon Center.

"So, Kay uses a mix of pokemon, but he used a Gallade that would heal himself whenever he got the chance, so watch out for that tactic with whatever he uses," I advised her.

"Good to know," Sheila grunted between bites of her sandwich. "I don't think I will have a problem, but thanks anyway."

"No problem," I responded, feeling like she really would do well, and that my confidence in her was well-placed.

After completing a League circuit, new rules apply to gym battles. Instead of two phases in which the trainer faces a standard level set, the post-expert trainer faces only one phase in which the gym leader chooses a number of pokemon of roughly equivalent level to the trainer's. In general, gym leaders tend to use three, and require the trainer to also use three. Sheila's first battle as an expert trainer held true to that standard.

When Sheila finished her sandwich, we both headed to the Saffron City gym, where I parted from her to enter the spectators' seating. While I waited for the battle to start, I watched a few trainer battles, during which time I noticed some eyes on me.

I turned to see a young boy and girl staring at me from several seats down. When they saw that I had caught their attention, they moved towards me while saying, "Wow, you ARE Zachariah MacAfee! Do you mind if we get a picture?"

I shrugged; it was no big deal and I was simply waiting for Sheila, so I had nothing better to do. They sat in the seats on either side of me and snapped a few selfies with shiny new PokeDexes. Normally that would have been enough for me, but since I had been sitting alone for half an hour slightly bored, I decided to make conversation.

"So, you both just joined the League?" I asked.

"Yeah! We just started a week ago! How did you know?" the boy asked, surprised.

"Your PokeDex looks new," I responded, pointing at the handheld device.

"Oh," he replied, looking at it.

"You planning on catching a port to Viridian?" I pressed.

"Well, Derek wants to travel backwards to save money and train more," the girl cut in, her tone implying that she did not approve.

I looked at the boy named Derek and asked, "You mean you want to go to Cerulean, and then through Mt. Moon to Pewter?"

"Mhm," Derek responded. "But May doesn't think it's a good idea. If we go that way, though, we would get the chance to catch great mountain pokemon before we get to the first gym. We would get to see how rock pokemon are in a fight, since I've read that Viridian Forest does not have many rock pokemon. But May thinks we should go through Viridian Forest anyway."

May listened with clear disapproval on her face. "Hmm," I said quietly. "I'd have to agree with May, then," to which she smiled and Derek frowned. "My reason for saying so is that the standard trail is where it is for a reason. First, you would need to travel to Cerulean which would put you through Route 5 of the Grinder. You and your starters would not make it through with your experience. Most of the people on that route have at least two badges, and you have only just begun."

Derek looked to be mulling over what I said, albeit begrudgingly. "Second," I continued, "Mt. Moon is not a safe place. Granted, neither is Viridian Forest, but many more Rangers patrol the forest than the mountains. Furthermore, a lot more trainers at your level will be taking the forest route, so you will have more even competition which will in turn help you grow. You're more likely to get your pokemon killed in trainer battles, or yourselves for that matter, if you go into the mountains with no experience."

By the time I finished, Derek was pouting. "So, out of curiosity," I said after a noticeable pause. "What have you both acquired for your teams?"

"My starter is an Abra, and I have a Pidgey," May replied. "And Derek has a Bulbasaur and a Rattata."

"You have a good start, then," I said encouragingly, even though I felt that the Pidgey and Rattata were not as valuable in more advanced competition. I guess a Pidgeot could hold its own against stronger fighters, but I did not have the same confidence for a Raticate, unless it was more than an ordinary Raticate.

"You think so?" asked May, her face bright. Then she looked slightly embarrassed as she asked, "I don't want to bother you with a lot of questions, but could you maybe give us some training tips?"

"Sure," I said. Then I thought for a while. Finally, I said, "Don't just train your teams. Train _with _them." Both May and Derek seemed surprised to hear that piece of advice, but I did not elaborate.

"Alright…" May said, thinking deeply about what I said. Then she turned to Derek and said, "And see? I told you so,"

"Whatever. I still can't afford it," Derek murmured. "I'm still paying off the Dex, remember?"

"Then beat a couple people in battles," she retorted.

"Who? All the beginners have left for Viridian already. Not that I could spot them in a crowd if they were around!"

Partially out of annoyance and partially out of sympathy, I reached into my pocket and pulled out some cash. "Here's a hundred 'bucks. Now you don't have an excuse." He looked flabbergasted. I handed him the money, but he waved it away embarrassedly.

"Thank you, but I can't take that! You hardly know me!" he said.

Without skipping a beat, I said, "Fine. Here May. Make sure he gets a port to Viridian." May giggled and accepted the money. "A last word of advice: Pay attention to your environment. Viridian Forest is a much more dangerous place if you don't. There really _are _Ursaring and colonies of bug pokemon that will not think twice about killing you if you trespass in their domains. Believe me, I know."

"Thank you, Mr. MacAfee," they both said with exaggerated gratitude, though also looking spooked at what I had just said.

I nodded, feeling very good about my act of charity, but the moment was interrupted by the announcement of Sheila's match. "Sorry, you both," I told them. "But the reason I'm here is just about to start, so I'll have to bid you farewell and good luck on your journeys."

The two trainers excitedly hurried away, though Derek retained some of his dour pouting. "Do you think he got this money from the JIC or the Viridian gym?" I heard him wonder aloud to May.

"Don't be stupid," May scolded him. "Those were too long ago. He probably got it from a battle or something."

Since I had been training with Aoro for the past month, the funny thing was that the money was indeed from my winnings in Viridian, though that did not matter.

Sheila met Leader Kay on the arena floor and linked her team with his. When her stats stretched across the big screens and revealed that she was a strong fighter, the crowd cheered at the opportunity to see a higher-caliber battle.

I simply watched without concern as Sheila led with Shade and Leader Kay led with an odd looking pokemon called a Medicham. It was a psychic/fighting type that Shade was able to knock out while healing herself before Leader Kay followed up with an Alakazam. It was faster than Shade, and was able to evade most of her Shadow Balls before knocking her out.

Next, Sheila sent out Geo, her Torterra. He was much slower than the Alakazam, but his attacks were able to hit larger areas than Shade. Although the Alakazam was teleporting around the arena to dodge attacks, Geo finally managed to knock it out with an earthquake, which hit it as soon as it appeared from a teleport on the ground.

Geo was hurt by that point, and did not have enough time to heal himself before Leader Kay released a Starmie who speared the small tree trunk and froze the foliage on Geo's back with an ice beam. The damage drove Geo into unconsciousness, but Sheila was smiling confidently.

Sheila released Larry, whose tail orb glowed upon release and sparked with electricity. Larry made relatively short work of the weaker water type despite its knack for regenerating damaged body quickly. When Larry paralyzed the psychic sea star, it was helpless to defend itself against Larry's barrage of thunder bolts.

When the Starmie was rendered unconscious, the crowd cheered and the announcer declared Sheila victorious. Leader Kay then awarded her his badge with a handshake.

I left the gym to meet Sheila in the lobby. When I passed by Derek and May, I gave them a wave, which they excitedly returned.

"Congrats, Sheila," I said with a smile when Sheila entered the lobby from the victors' booth.

"Thanks! It wasn't the most difficult fight I've had before, but Leader Kay was still tough."

"So what do you want to do now?" I asked.

"Well, PokeCenter first," Sheila said quickly. Then, after a small pause, "Then lunch so we can map out where to go route-wise."

"Good plan," I said, and we left the gym.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Then next day, we were on our way out of town. We headed east towards the mountains along Route 8. Sheila's mindset was to at least see the largest and historically important cities of Kanto, if not to battle their gym leaders. So, Lavender was an unfortunate necessity. Sheila also wanted to visit Azul, but not to participate in the Melee when I told her about it.

While we could have simply flown to each, Sheila preferred to travel the old fashioned way. It allowed her to train her team, and when my team and I were her training buddies, it allowed us both to improve. I continued to share the training knowledge I had gained from Aoro, and she continued to condition my team with her father's teachings. That was, at least, until we reached the foothills.

When we reached the heavily-wooded hills of the eastern mountain range, my day plan changed, for it was the natural environment for Houndoom packs. Of course, as experience had taught me, finding a pack of Houndour was much easier said than done. That is why I informed Sheila that I would be training with her every morning, but then instead of accompanying her onwards, I would take to the sky with Azrael and reconvene with her later that night for evening practice. I also warned her that if I found a trail to track, I might not return until the next day or later.

Since Sheila was traveling along the Route, her GPS was able to synchronize with mine, and we could know where the other was unless I traveled too far from the Route. We took to the skies because trying to find a pack was impossible to do with Dante's psychic abilities. Houndooms' and Houndours' dark affiliation hid them from Dante's psychics. So when Azrael and I took to the sky, we searched for signs of fire damage to the environment.

It was long and painstaking work because we needed to fly low and slow in order to observe more detail in the trees. Furthermore, Houndoom and Houndour only use their fire when attacking prey after being spotted, establishing dominance over other pack mates, or issuing territorial displays to intruders. Sometimes they use fire to mark their territory, but it was not as common as urination.

Lastly, Houndour mating season is in the winter, so the amount of fresh fire damage to the environment stemming from shows of dominance was slim. It took us a week before we found any sign of fire damage, and when we finally did, we investigated. We found toppled trees which were dead and partially overgrown, and large gashes in their trunks.

With Rufus helping me look for any more evidence, we found a slight impression in the earth that had hardened and mostly set, but had the shape of a large clawed foot. Due to its shape and size, I determined with some reservation and disappointment that it was a dragon's footprint. We promptly left to look for a different site. The footprint had been old enough that we probably did not need to worry about its owner showing up, but I did not want to take any chances. We were in the Charizard Serelath's territory, and judging by the footprint's size – which was slightly smaller than Azrael's – it was probably hers.

While we actively searched for most of every day, Azrael's flying improved. Unfortunately, when we reached Lavender Town around two and half weeks later, I had not found any sign of a pack of Houndour.

I was not particularly happy to be back in Lavender Town, but Sheila was excited to visit the Pokemon Tower. I shuddered as I thought back to the old crones who inhabit the Tower and attempted to avoid visiting the mausoleum with Sheila, but she insisted that I come. I would say that I put up a valiant effort, but Sheila knew how to use her girlish charms to her advantage.

Once again, I found myself shuffling through the old, immaculate Pokemon Tower, its graves free from dust or damage for the most part. The wispy women moved about just as I remembered them, sneaking up on us when we least expected them. This time, however, almost every single one mentioned the fact that I seemed to have a dark madness looming over my head. The only exception was one somehow remembered me.

"Foolish little runt comes back, despite being told to keep his aura-disturbing rage away from our hallowed halls," I heard from behind.

With an exasperated sigh, I turned around and found an old crone whose skin was as pale as the marble under my feet. "Trust me, I did not want to come," I responded to her, unsettled by her appearance.

"The spirits here grow more restless every minute you linger," she continued, her voice almost theatrical in its wavering. If I did not know any better, I might mistake her for a hackneyed horror movie ghost.

"Well I'm sure it doesn't help that you are stopping me in my passage through to tell me so!" I snapped back. "Or any of the five others that have already done so."

"Insolent wretch!" she shrieked. "The Guardians will not approve of your disrespect!"

"Well you can tell your Guardians to f-" I was cut off by Sheila, who yanked me back by the scruff of my shirt.

"Can you PLEASE control yourself?" she said in a quiet, yet exasperated, tone.

I glared at her in surprise. "Have you not been paying attention?" I cried out. "These people stop us to tell us that by taking more time I anger these guardians. It's hypocritical and stupid!"

"I don't care!" Sheila said angrily, her voice still low. "Can't you hear what's around you?"

"I know, it's quiet in here and people can hear us!" I fought back, lowering my voice slightly.

"No, it's not…!" Sheila retorted, and I hesitated in confusion. It was quiet before, with the only sounds piercing the serenity being our clapping footsteps. But there was now another subtle sound about the air. I could not place it, but it sounded like a multitude of angry whispers, yet no one was around. I looked back to the old crone, but she was no longer there. I looked around to find the area devoid of any life aside from Sheila and I.

"See?" Sheila said, her voice a little fearful.

The incoherent whispering continued, and Sheila and I picked up our pace. My anger had subsided to be replaced by embarrassment and humility. I would not say I was scared, but I was certainly unsettled. My hand hovered near the Pokeballs for Rufus and Gilles from then on in our passage through the Tower.

We eventually came to the statue of the First Champion. It had not changed, of course, but it still sent ripples of goosebumps down my spine. It did not help that the whispering had not ceased. Standing in front of the statue and hearing the angry whispers, I almost felt like I had offended the First. I stood as humbly as possible, trying to placate the whispering, but they did not wane. I even apologized quietly to the statue, but it did not have any noticeable effect on the whispering.

Finally, her curiosity satiated, Sheila opted to leave. I quickly and readily followed her out, and as soon as we crossed the threshold of the Tower entrance, the whispering abruptly died. "Well… That was disturbing," I said to Sheila as we made our way to the Pokemon Center. She did not respond. I looked over to see an angry frown stretching across her face.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?" I said, trying to make up with her.

"Do you at least understand _why _acting like an angry Gyarados might be inappropriate?" she scolded. "That was _their _domain, not yours!"

"The Tower is _not _their domain," I responded, irritated. "Just because they are comfortable in that creepy place does not make it theirs. I'm comfortable in the wilderness, but does that make it mine? No! And the way they sneak up on you is so rude! I did not want to put up with their shit!"

"Ugh, that is not the point!" she fought back. "If someone came into the forest and burned down a large area to make an apartment complex, what would you say to them, huh?"

"That's different!" I retorted. "They are overstepping their boundaries and are liable to piss off a bunch of angry pokemon, who would probably take their rage to innocent people!"

"It is the SAME thing!" Sheila shot back. "What makes you think those 'old crones' were not protecting people from something, huh? You would be angry at the person who burns down part of the forest because it is an act of disrespect brought on by ignorance. You are that person right now. And then you disrespected whatever it was that they were trying to keep appeased! Can you not see that!?"

"And what is this thing that they are trying to protect people from, huh?" I asked, ignoring that Sheila was right. "A bunch of whispering?"

"It doesn't matter what it is they are protecting people from!" Sheila continued to scold me. "We probably don't know about it because the knowledge is probably not available to us. And probably for good reason! And if it _is _just a piece of hocus pocus, then maybe you should err on the side of caution and respect in a mausoleum! You of all people should know about the spitefulness of ghost pokemon!"

Sheila had left me speechless. "Well!?" Sheila pressed when I did not answer.

"I'm sorry alright!" I yelled. "I get it! I was an ass. But I still think that they could be less rude and hypocritical about it all. They were only keeping me in there longer when they stopped me to tell me not to take so long getting through." I had lowered my volume by the end of my sentence, and Sheila remained quiet.

After a little while, Sheila said, "Maybe you're right about their manners. But when's the last time you were very mad at someone and didn't want to act politely? Maybe it's just not in their nature." Sheila's voice was soft and soothing, as opposed to her previous angry tone.

"I guess," is all I could say back.

When we arrived back at the Pokemon Center, we went to bed. In spite of the fight we had just had, we slept close to each other, thankful for the other's presence. I knew that my pride and anger were difficult to live with, and I was grateful that Sheila was willing to stay with me despite my character flaws. I only wished I could figure out why she did.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

We were on the road to Azul, over a month after we set off on Sheila's journey to conquer the Indigo League, when Azrael and I finally came upon what we had been looking for. A patch of forest had noticeable signs of fire damage that were visible from the treetops.

We landed and I released Rufus, who helped me locate pieces of evidence as to what caused the damage. First, the patterns of fire damage were streaks across the trees and foliage as if in flares or streams, like rudimentary flamethrowers. The burnt wood also smelled differently than normal; they had a pungent sour smell that denoted a chemical fire. Rufus then directed me to paw prints in erratic patterns, which pointed to a possible scuffle that might have occurred.

The paw prints in the possible scuffle were around the size of Rufus's paws, and smaller paw prints covered the area. When I followed them around, I found that a large amount of them led away to the south and a smaller group led to the east. I quickly developed a theory that a challenge for dominance had taken place and a change of the alpha had occurred, splitting the pack such that most of the pack left with the new alpha.

I counted the array of tracks to find that fifteen sets led to the east and six led to the south. Knowing that I had stocked up on my supply of pokeballs to five Ultraballs, ten Greatballs, and twenty pokeballs, I confidently returned Rufus, jumped up on Azrael's back, and directed him southward. The tracks were not recently made. By my estimates, they were at least a week old, maybe two.

But I was excited. I had finally found what had taken me over a year to find. Our search began anew with renewed vigor. We flew south, looking for the closest source of water. Even though Houndour and Houndoom are fire types, they still needed water. After about an hour, we passed over a flowing stream and had to circle back to land. When we did, I looked around and not surprisingly found no tracks to follow.

So, I released my team and split them in two. I sent Lazarus and Rufus southeast along the river bank, and I took the rest of my team northwest. Rufus and Lazarus could quickly travel back to me, and Dante could teleport to Lazarus if we found tracks to follow. I kept Gilles with me because it had been a while since the Banette had attacked.

We walked and walked, checking the earth as we went, but after five miles, we had not found any tracks and it was growing dark. Knowing that I would not be able to search for tracks effectively at night, I decided to make camp. I told Dante to teleport to Lazarus and bring them back before I started to set up my tent.

When I had finished setting up camp around ten minutes later, Dante had not teleported back. I waited another ten minutes, but he never appeared, causing me to grow anxious. Eventually I grew fed up with my anxiety and retrieved Dante's pokeball in order to use the GPS function to locate him. The first thing I noticed was that his health was at 2%. With a skipped beat of my heart and a spike in my adrenaline, I threw Azrael's saddle on his back, returned my remaining pokemon, and we sped off to the location where Dante's pokeball showed him to be.

We arrived in the general area with Azrael plummeting to the ground with a monstrous bellow. We landed hard and my teeth ground against each other from the jarring impact, but I was too scared and furious to take discomfort in the feeling. I released my team and we quickly located Dante.

He was lying on the ground bleeding and unconscious a hundred feet from the stream. Rufus and Lazarus were nearby, both unconscious on the ground. There were tears in the ground and a tree was scorched, but the fire had been put out. I noticed that Dante was bleeding from a couple wounds; one that looked to be from a bolt of lightning, a couple deep gashes, and another that looked like a shot in the back of his left shoulder by an arrow which had then been torn from the wound. Rufus and Lazarus looked like they had been beaten badly.

I returned them to their balls quickly, finding Rufus's vitality at 4% and Lazarus's at 3%. I applied some potions to their balls before ordering the rest of my team to search for any other signs. We found boot prints in the damp earth and even some blood beside drag marks in the ground. What horrified me the most, though, was that there was broken equipment left behind. A couple broken pokeballs were lying nearby. What looked like an iron muzzle was lying next to Rufus, but it had been cut apart. There were also split chains lying next to both Rufus and Lazarus, and a torn net.

The boot prints and drag marks led into the forest for a short distance until they stopped and changed into two parallel lines. I looked around, and then with an exasperated yell, I kicked the dirt. It looked as if whoever had been there had fled. My only guess is that someone tried to catch Lazarus and Rufus, but finding out that pokeballs were ineffective, tried to haul them away anyway. What I could not figure out, though, was why they fled without taking Rufus, Lazarus, and Dante with them.

After I had a few minutes to vent my anger, I took to the sky with Azrael once more. We headed back to the camp and I noticed during our flight that Rufus and Lazarus had made it about three and a half miles down the river. When we arrived, I released Dante, who was still unconscious, and applied another potion to his injuries. His health was at 43% and I waited for him to awaken beside the crackling fire.

He awoke with a violent start, his blades extending instantly and swinging above him. Luckily for me, I had positioned him a few feet from me, so I avoided a potentially nasty injury. "Dante! It's alright!" I calmed him, standing up. "It's alright. I'm here."

_The fire hound? The sparking feline? _he asked hysterically.

"They are fine. They are in their pokeballs. Are you alright?" I asked.

Dante seemed to calm down a bit. _I am fine, J'Kun. _His demeanor suggested otherwise. He sat up with his shoulders hunched over.

"Tell me what happened," I said, sitting next to him.

_When I arrived, four Yeshka were dragging the feline and the hound toward a carrying device. I acted quickly and cut their bonds, but they did not respond. I then felt an intense pain in my back and saw one of Yeshka with a weapon raised like yours, except it was sideways and was mounted on a stick. I responded to protect myself, and incapacitated him. Then the others released a black feline with long claws and a red crest, and an electric feline. I tried to fight them off, but I was overcome… Forgive me J'Kun._

"There is nothing to forgive, Dante," I said, rubbing his non-injured shoulder. "I found you all together, and no other people or pokemon. Whatever you did stopped them from taking Rufus and Lazarus. I am so thankful for what you did."

Dante seemed to ease a bit, but his overall dejected demeanor did not fade completely. "If your goal was to save them, then you succeeded. You have nothing to be ashamed about," I continued. "I couldn't be more proud of you. I think this means that we need to train more with your natural weakness to dark types. What do you say?"

Dante nodded, his demeanor significantly lighter than before. "Great! Now, how many were there?" I asked, becoming more serious.

_There were four, J'Kun,_ he responded.

"Four…" I muttered. I thought about it for a while. It seemed to me that the people who had attacked them were poachers of a sort. They had equipment to capture pokemon who could not be captured with pokeballs. And they had strong pokemon with them as well. It still did not explain why they did not finish the job. Maybe Rufus and Lazarus had taken out a few of theirs before they fell. Maybe the wounds that Dante inflicted on his attacker were too injurious for them to finish.

In any case, it was a situation that I felt needed to be dealt with. I was not going to let them get away with trying to steal my family. I thought back to training with Aoro and thought that this situation was a perfect opportunity to test my skills in the field. The only difference was I did not know how many I was going against, or what weapons/pokemon they had at their disposal.

"There might be at least one more person with them," I said. "They have to have a base of operations, like a lodge or something, and if they are poaching trainers' pokemon, then they would definitely need to keep someone with their captured pokemon. They would also need a place to store all of their stuff. If the one you injured was injured bad enough, they would need to get back as quickly as possible. How badly did you hurt him?"

_I took the appendage that had caused me pain, _Dante said coolly.

"I think it's fair to say that you hurt him pretty badly, then," I said, chuckling slightly.

Dante's green eyes glowed and he nodded. Well, heal yourself and prepare for a little night operation. He nodded again and started tending to his wounds. I released Rufus and Lazarus and applied potions to them. As I did, I asked, "What can you tell me, or Dante, about what happened?"

Lazarus and Rufus started snarling, barking, and giving facial ques. _They tell me that they ran into Yeshka and they were attacked on the spot by six enemies at once. They both managed to incapacitate three of their attackers, but they were too injured to protect themselves against the remainders. _

I thought some more. "Do you both want some payback?" Rufus growled and Lazarus raised his hackles. "Good, because we are turning them all in."

They all nodded and I returned them to their balls. I then climbed on Azrael's back and we flew to the spot where I had found them unconscious. Then, I released Gilles and commanded him to "follow the tracks and find out where they went. Stay hidden and watch out for their Sneasel or Weavile."

With a quiet giggle, he flew off into the forest. While we waited, I developed a rudimentary plan of action. They would most likely have their Sneasel or Weavile on lookout – I was hoping it would only be a Sneasel but my gut told me otherwise. It gave me a slight bit of anxiety knowing that Gilles would be at a disadvantage against it, but I had faith in him.

They would definitely be tending to the wounded poacher's 'appendage' and they might have even sent more to look out for us. It would be foolish to expect them to not be prepared, even if they weren't, so my plan reflected that scenario.

Azrael would follow underground, making as little noise as possible, while Rufus would cloak us in darkness. Dante would follow us from behind in case the cover broke, and in that case, he would provide a barrier for me. Ceto would also travel next to Dante to back him up, and also since she could fire long-range attacks. Gilles would travel nearby to point out our enemies.

It felt like a safe plan of action, and by the time I finished explaining it to them, Gilles returned with a dark laugh. He extended a hand and held up five fingers. "There's five of them?" I asked. He nodded. "Including the injured one?" He nodded again. "Alright. Let's get going. Gilles, lead the way, but let us know when we get close."

He flew forward ahead of us. By that time, the daylight had faded and we were in the dark, but I was able to make out Gilles' outline as he flew in front of me. Of course, he was not trying to hide himself. We walked quickly for about fifteen minutes before Gilles stopped us with a projected image of his face. There was a faint glow coming from further ahead.

"Alright everyone, just like we discussed," I whispered, and we all fell into order. "Gilles, your hypnosis is going to be essential. Same with your paralysis, Lazarus."

With that, Rufus projected a small air-distorting bubble around us such that far less light could be reflected from within. In that way, light could still enter the bubble and into our eyes so that we could see, but most of it would not reflect back out, creating a darker area in the environment to the outside eye. When Rufus became more proficient with the technique, he would eventually be able to prevent _all _light from escaping. At the moment, his abilities were only rudimentary, and if he wanted to fight, he would need to drop the cover.

We moved silently and hidden amongst the flora until Gilles quickly flew ahead. Seconds later, I heard a thud as his first victim fell to the ground asleep. We quickly moved up and I pulled him into the dark cover. There, I took some rope, tied his arms behind his back, and bound them to his ankles. Then I confiscated four pokeballs from his pockets.

It was a matter of time now. The poacher could remain asleep anywhere from a couple minutes to a couple hours. We only had a limited amount of time to disable the remaining poachers before he awoke and alerted them to our presence with a scream.

We entered a small area where a small house was situated. A man with a crossbow was standing on the porch scanning the woods, with a Luxray seated beside him. Another man with a crossbow was walking around the building and heading straight to where the poacher had been hypnotized. Beside him walked a lithe Persian. The Sneasel or Weavile was nowhere in sight.

I quickly whispered loudly, "On my mark, Lazarus, paralyze them! Ceto, ice beam to the crossbow man on the porch. Gilles, get up there and hypnotize anyone else in the house." If the people were hypnotized or paralyzed, they could not release any more pokemon. "Rufus, stay with me. G-"

As I was giving the go-ahead, a snarl rang out directly next to me. The cover dropped to reveal a deep red feather crown adorning a black-furred cat on two legs. My gaze was immediately drawn to its claws, which were over a foot long - nearly as long as its arms. It was a Weavile!

Luckily for me, my team sprang into action. Rufus bathed the Weavile in flames, Ceto sent a jagged icicle with less accuracy then I had counted on into the poacher's arm, Gilles warped forward to the stairs, and Dante erected a barrier around me. Lazarus sent out a paralyzing wave, but stayed beside me to help Rufus with the Weavile.

The poacher on the porch immediately fell to the ground, hypnotized, while the Luxray bounded towards me. I stomped and slid my foot forward in response. One thing I did not plan on, though, was that the Persian would be unaffected by the paralyzing wave. Perhaps it was too far away and the Persian was too strong, or perhaps it was just fighting through it. Either way, it was closing the distance between us fast.

I was pushed out of the way by Lazarus, as the Weavile dodged attacks and went straight for me. I fell to the ground with a yell and saw the Persian growing closer. "Ceto!" I yelled, and an ice beam ripped over my shoulder and pierced the cougar in the side. It was only slowed though, and kept coming for me while ignoring my team.

With dread, I realized that they were probably under orders to kill my team's leader at all costs. Without me, my team could not be directed as effectively, and it would create an advantage for the poachers. With a bellow, Azrael exploded from the ground beneath the Luxray, sending it flying. I backed up quickly on my hands and rear end, but I heard a snarl from behind me. A dark-furred wolf was hurtling towards me from the woods. With further dread, I gasped in recognition of the Mightyena.

"Dante!" I yelled in fright. Dante appeared at the dark wolf's side and slammed a fist into its ribs. The Mightyena was taken off-guard and thrown to the side. It rounded on Dante immediately and started attacking back, its deep growl resonating through the air.

Once again, the Weavile broke free from Rufus and Lazarus, and made a move for me. Its movements blurred with the darkness around it and it lunged, only to be overtaken by Lazarus, who grabbed its tail with an electrified hand.

Then, the area around me heated up as Rufus bathed his body in flames and shot forward, colliding with the stunned Weavile. The double-teamed attack was effective, and all the more so with the Weavile's weakness to fire. I hardly noticed an arrow ping off of my back.

In the meantime, Azrael was using a mix of claws and bulldozes to fight the Luxray. Dante was having a difficult time with the Mightyena, who was using a mix of devastating dark moves against Dante. Dante's focus dropped and my barrier fell, which left an opening for a crossbow bolt to fly from the trees and hit me in the side, just below my ribcage.

With a pained yell, I flinched. I heard a mixture of enraged bellows, the loudest of which came from Azrael. Dante's concerned voice flared in my mind. I was frozen with shock; the pain was too intense. Before I knew it, Azrael barreled overhead and slammed into the tree from which the bolt had come. How he knew where it was, I did not know, but I heard a terrified scream which was violently stifled.

I looked around, still in shock, to see Rufus and Lazarus aiding Dante, and then my view was obstructed as Azrael landed overtop of me protectively. Within moments, the air went relatively quiet. My team surged around me protectively.

I hurriedly reached into a pocket for a Blissey egg syringe to find a tear in the fabric. The syringe was missing. With a groan, I theorized that the Weavile must have somehow stolen it. It was the only thing that could have.

"Dante," I said, starting to hyperventilate. "Find Sheila!"

I did not get a response as Dante immediately disappeared. "Gilles, make sure the rest of them stay asleep," I ordered. Then I tried to relax. It was not easy, given than I had an arrow in my gut, but I tried to slow my breathing to reduce my heartrate.

I don't know how long I waited, but two _pops! _rang out as Dante, Shade, and Sheila appeared. Azrael snarled but I said, pained, "Azrael, let her help." Azrael's warning snarl was only a warning; he probably would not have hurt Sheila if she ignored him.

"Zachariah! Arceus, what happened!" Sheila exclaimed while she ran over to me. She gasped when she saw the arrow protruding from my side. "Zach…" she said, trailing off. She quickly took out a syringe of her own and stabbed me just below the wound.

I groaned again with the pain, and Azrael let out a quiet growl. The rest of my team also tensed up as she did. My wound immediately started re-stitching itself together and the arrow was painfully ejected. When it stopped, only a scar remained, but I still felt like the arrow was lodged in my stomach.

With a sigh of relief, I laid back on the ground with my eyes closed. "Thank you, Sheila," I said gratefully. When I didn't get an answer, I opened my eyes to see her face above mine with a look of intense anger.

"You want to tell me just what the hell you were thinking!?" she yelled. "You literally almost died!"

I sunk back into the ground with embarrassment. "I just… wanted to bring some poachers t-"

"Are you crazy!? You could have AT LEAST asked for my help! But no! You decided to do it all by yourself and you almost got yourself killed!" she interrupted.

"I know, but I-"

"I don't care! Next time you want to undertake something like this, friggin' tell me and I will help you. I was here how fast? It's not like you couldn't wait for me, you idiot."

I went silent. There was a pause. "I thought I could do it myself. I did not want to get you involved," I finally said quietly.

"Yeah, well thanks for that," she replied sarcastically. "Instead you scared the ever-living hell out of me and forced me to save you from _dying_."

"I know. I'm sorry. I promise, if I ever feel the need to do something like this again, I will let you know first so you can help," I told her, much like a scolded puppy.

"You damned-well better," Sheila replied, her anger subsiding a little. "Now, what more do you need to do here?"

"Well, I think we got everyone, so I was going to call in the Rangers," I said.

"Great. You're going to stay here and not move. I am going to go with Shade into range of the radio to call in the League," Sheila said, taking over.

"Fine by me," I said, resigned.

"I don't want to hear it," Sheila snapped as she walked over to Shade. Shade shot me a disapproving glare before they disappeared. I shifted, finding that I was sore but not in pain. In the spur of the moment, I rose to my feet and walked around the cabin, much to the chagrin of my pokemon. As I passed the fallen bodies of the poachers, I grabbed all of the pokeballs that I could lay my hands on. That way, if they awoke, they would not be able to release any pokemon. I also increased my stock of empty pokeballs.

Half an hour later, Rangers were descending into the clearing atop Fearow and Pidgeotto. They rounded up the poachers and took them away, but I noticed that they only took away five people. The Rangers surveyed the area to gather evidence, and when they came to find what was left of the man who had shot me, they were forced to bring me in. Since a man had been killed, they could not simply let me off the hook.

I could not say that I did not see it coming. I felt like I had a fairly good justification, though. Upon my arrival in Azul City – the closest city to us – I was first brought to the hospital where my injury was inspected. Then a small hearing was conducted to evaluate the legitimacy of my claim against that of the men.

It was in that hearing that I came across a familiar face. It was Ranger Hershel. Apparently, he had been promoted a couple ranks since I had last seen him, and was now a Captain. He recognized me as well, and stood in during the hearing.

My claim was of self-defense, protecting my pokemon, and apprehending criminals. The poachers' defense was that I attacked them outright with no provocation.

The evidence against the poachers was overwhelming. The equipment found at the lodge matched the equipment found by the stream where they had attempted to take Rufus and Lazarus. The blood at the stream and the destroyed bonds, commensurate with the man whose arm had been cut off by Dante, matched my story while they could not account for it. The biggest piece of evidence against them, though, was the fact that they had captured 12 pokemon and did not have a PokeDex.

The fact that I had attacked them, which was true, was unfortunately not seen as self-defense. The death of the poacher, however, _was _attributed to self-defense. If the men had not been poachers, and if they had not already attempted to steal Rufus and Lazarus, I would have been in a lot of trouble. As it was, I was let go, but with a most stern warning of caution and a fine for assaulting them. The fine was lessened when weighed against my accusers' crimes, but it was punishment nonetheless.

Ranger Captain Hershel gave me a particularly stern warning. While technically it was the duty of the Rangers to deal with those kinds of situations, I still performed a service. A trainer's responsibility lays mainly in pokemon-only protective duties.

Furthermore, I had not forgotten about the investigation into the drug that Alex had used on his Skarmory. I asked him about it only to be left with no information once again. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever receive answers for Raeda's death.

The entire hearing took place in only one day. When we finished, I went to the Pokemon Center in Azul City for the night. Sheila was still mad at me, but she was so happy that I was alive that her anger faded away after a few hours of snuggling.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

In the morning, before I returned to area where I had previously set up camp, Sheila asked me to accompany her on a small walk through Azul City. I was hesitant to do so because many of my belongings were back in the forest. Knowing that, Sheila only asked me to join her on a trail that stretched along the seaside.

The trail was a scenic route, with bright green foliage covering the tall hills that bordered the ocean and through which the trail led.

From the trail we could see large immaculate houses in the lush hilltops overlooking the ocean. Large yachts could be seen moving amongst the waves in the distance, where jet skis and speedboats also zoomed hither and thither.

As we walked along, Sheila remained quiet for the most part, taking in the scenery. Suddenly, it seemed, she said, "You know, I'm surprised you haven't said more about what happened. A man _died._"

"He shot me and Azrael did not take kindly to someone trying to kill me. What more is there to say?" I asked, not giving it much thought.

"It's just… you seem a little too nonchalant about it," she continued, turning her face away.

"What would you expect? Should I have a meltdown and cry and let it bring me down?" I asked, a little snappier than I intended.

"Maybe not…" replied Sheila. "But maybe a little reaction…"

There was an awkward silence between us that lasted for a few minutes as we continued to stroll along the trail. I was already anxious that this situation might threaten to reveal the darker secrets that I had been keeping from her. So I chose what I told her carefully.

"I'm no stranger to death, Sheila. My team has killed many pokemon, either to eat or in battle, and Raeda was murdered before my eyes. Azrael protected me from a man who was trying to kill me. They all could have stood down when Azrael, a giant friggin dragon, entered the fight. That man could have backed down when he saw what he was up against. But instead, he tried to kill me in front of my team. In front of the giant dragon. I will not allow myself to feel sorry for him."

Sheila did not respond for a few more minutes. When she did, she had a more leveled tone. "I understand that they were bad people. But you set the tone of your interaction by attacking them. If you were attacked, you would probably fight back, too. You had to have known that it was a possibility."

"I did, Sheila."

Sheila's words rang true. After all, it was the basis for my judicial punishment. And I knew that she knew that I was not stupid. Of course I knew it was a possibility. I knew that I was naive to think that I could capture all of them and bring them in to the authorities by myself, and to think that endeavor would run smoothly. The appearance of a sixth person was an anomaly that I had not prepared for, which caused my plan to backfire.

I reflected on the "luck" I had had in my previous endeavors. My operations against the Meteors were successful in comparison to my operation against the poachers. I grimly realized that I was "successful" when I threw caution to the wind, acted ruthlessly, and attacked when my enemies were not expecting me. It was a fact that brought my mind back to the Champion's words about sacrifice and not becoming the monsters I fought.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

My belongings were untouched; nothing had moved. It really was not surprising given that it was in the middle of the forest, in the middle of nowhere. It was around noon and we had a job to do; one that I hoped would keep my mind off of recent events.

I immediately set about splitting my team once again. This time, I ordered Ceto to follow Lazarus and Rufus in the stream. They returned to where they had been attacked and resumed their search for Houndour tracks while the rest of us continued past the campsite.

Once again, we spent several hours walking. In some parts, the earth was so damp that I sunk down an inch or two, while wild pokemon occasionally accosted us when we crossed into their habitats. Azrael and Gilles received a hardy meal of Rattata, Pidgey, Buizel, and various bug types. Interestingly enough, they only ever attacked after Azrael had loped off ahead of me and left me. Perhaps they did not see a Gallade as threatening as they did a Garchomp. Perhaps they did not see the Haunter at all.

Eventually, I grew hungry and decided to cook one of the pokemon that tried to attack me but lost its life in the process. As I separated the flesh from the skin of a Buizel, I saw Dante's eyes glow before he jerked his head to the south. Azrael also raised his head and looked that way. I stopped cleaning the kill and heard a muffled, distant howling.

"Dante," I simply said, and he nodded. He then disappeared, reappearing several minutes later.

_J'Kun, they have found evidence of more fire dogs,_ Dante informed me.

I smiled, returned Azrael and Gilles to their balls, and said, "Take me to them."

The terrain fizzled out of existence, replaced by a momentary blackness. Then green foliage appeared surrounding me. Lazarus and Rufus were sitting by a tree, and Ceto was bobbing up and down in the nearby water. I approached Lazarus and Rufus to see paw prints in the ground. There were no scorch marks in the vicinity, but obvious signs of a pack of canines were seen in the stripped bark of trees and the rudimentary den underneath a small bluff further away from the stream.

The den was deserted, but tracks led away from it. By the look of them, they were only a few days old, telling me that the small pack had stayed for a little over a week before seeking a new location. It was good luck; the tracks would not be difficult to follow. All that remained was the creation of a plan to capture them...

Training Rufus had given me insight into the preferences of Houndoom. I knew that they were naturally nocturnal – I had trained Rufus to be more at ease in the daytime. I also only had six Hounds to capture.

Out of the two packs of Houndoom/Houndour that I could have tracked down, I had decided on the smaller, and I did so for several carefully thought-out reasons. First, it would be easier to catch a smaller group of pokemon without casualties than a larger one. Second, I knew that my career goals would lead me away from home, so a smaller amount of pokemon to train would be easier on me and my father. Third, I deduced that the pack had split with the majority following a new alpha. That meant that the pack following the dethroned alpha were loyal. Granted, they were loyal to the old alpha, but I valued loyalty over strength in this instance because they would be breeders instead of fighters on my team.

It was ironic in a way because the purpose of the Infernal Competitors was to produce battle pokemon and the most effective way to produce high-caliber battlers was to raise the level of the parents. One thing I was beginning to realize, though, was that lineage was not always everything. Rufus, after all, was not bred from champions as far as I knew, yet he was one of my stronger fighters. But I could not discount the value of lineage, as Azrael reminded me every day.

In the end, I needed pokemon that my father could help me raise, and a newly-won alpha pack would be problematic. Not only would I probably kill only a few of the hounds if I pursued the larger group, I would also probably be overwhelmed with the numbers. Six seemed like a reasonable number to start with.

It was with a mindset of perfection that I directed my pokemon to track the pack. To preserve the integrity of the pack and to establish a trustworthy relationship therein, I would not kill a single one. And if I could not do so with six of them, then I certainly could not do so with fifteen.

I sent Gilles ahead into the woods, followed by Rufus. They could move quickly and quietly. There were still a few hours of sunlight left, during which the wild dogs would be bedded down. I did not believe that we would find them before that time, given that the tracks were a few days old, but I still wanted to be cautious. I would make camp after a couple of hours and resume my pursuit the next day.

I was fairly deep in the woods when the light became dim, so I unpacked. I stationed my entire team, including Saraph, around the camp to keep watch. I did not know how close I was to the feral hounds, but I had had too much bad luck in the last week to take any chances. I did not light a fire, so I went to bed early.

Sometime in the night, I was awoken to the sounds of howling. They were not so distant, which instantly put me on edge. My team also tightened their circle around me defensively until well-after the yowls ceased. I was paranoid and could not sleep. "Dante, can you sense anything?" I asked aloud.

_I cannot sense the fire dogs, but I sense the distress of a large creature. Perhaps they are in the process of hunting the creature_, he responded.

"Can you tell what kind of creature it is?" I asked.

_Sadly, I cannot, J'Kun. _

"That's alright. Keep up the good work everyone." I tried once again to fall asleep, but it wasn't until Azrael snaked his head inside of my tent, stretching the opening somewhat around the bulbs on the sides of his head, that I finally felt enough at ease to slip into a dreamless sleep.

When I awoke, Azrael's head was still lying beside me. Upon my stirring, his eyes opened and he gave a huff before retreating from the opening. The morning was cool and dew hung on the grass. The chirping of Pidgey and Spearow rang through the air.

With a stretch, I left the tent and immediately dismantled it. I knew now that the pack was close. They were also likely lethargic from a night of feasting, making it a most opportune time to seek them out. To do so, I simply asked Dante, "Can you find the location of the distressed creature that you sensed last night?"

_I can find where I sensed him at the time, J'Kun. _

"Good enough, Dante," I said.

Minutes later, I was transported to a grisly scene. A stripped carcass of some creature – a Stantler by the look of it – lay several hundred feet away, trailed by streaks of blood in the grass. A mess of overlapping paw prints followed the bloody trail. The trail then led off to the east through the trees.

The tracks were several hours old, meaning that the pack had either made the kill sometime early in the morning, or had spent some time feeding on their kill. Either way, they had probably returned to their den to rest on full stomachs. I smiled, knowing that surprising them while they slept was a much easier way to accomplish my goal than facing them all head-on.

I did not know how far away the den was and Dante was incapable of sensing the pack, leaving me at a disadvantage. I would not surprise anything without in turn surprising myself if I did not know their location. One thing I had learned was that surprise tends to disrupt a plan.

Seeking to minimize the unknown factors in my endeavor, I attempted to think of the best pokemon for the job, but I came up with a blank. Gilles would be the best for the job, but he was not good at tracking. Following ATV tracks was one thing; following subtle paw prints in the dirt was another. The next best to send would be Dante because he could teleport away, but he would be facing a pack of dark-types. If they caught him unaware, they might prevent him from teleporting away. Any of my other pokemon could be followed, except for Azrael who would surely be noticed; he was not the stealthiest creature.

I finally decided to use Dante. I would constantly monitor his pokeball as he tracked the hounds, and I would rely on his stealth and his reflexes. I hoped that he would be able to find the den and teleport away before they were alerted to his presence, or at least before they could react.

I sent Dante away to track them down. In the meantime, the rest of my team waited beside me. I waited and waited, anxiety poking at my nerves. My eyes never left Dante's health bar.

What seemed like hours later, but was closer to thirty minutes, Dante burst into being in front of me with a _pop! _"Dante! Are you alright?" I asked, my anxiety peaking but fading quickly.

_I am well, J'Kun. I have discerned the location of the fire dogs' resting place. I may have caught the attention of one of them by accident, _he replied with a hint of appreciation for my concern.

"Excellent. We'll wait an hour for them to relax then; let their paranoia from seeing you fade. How far away are they?"

_Approximately one mile to the east. Their den is in the side of a hill twice my height, hidden by a tree's roots. _

I nodded, shuffling in place while I imagined it. Then I spent the next hour preparing myself and giving my team orders for the impending operation. Once I felt that an acceptable period of time had passed, I returned Azrael, Ceto, and Saraph, and signaled my team forward.

We all moved silently with Dante leading the way. Gilles floated invisibly overhead. Rufus and Lazarus followed on each side of me. We walked for almost half an hour until Dante sank into a crouch. _Their den is several hundred feet ahead_, he said in my mind.

I released Azrael and Ceto behind me. They had their orders; Azrael burrowed and Ceto hovered several yards behind me. I pulled out my bow and elongated a couple tranquilizer-tipped arrows as I snuck along. Before I knew it, I could see the hill topped with a tree whose roots hung down in front of a steeper vertical portion.

There was a darker portion in which I saw the outlines of several prone figures. With a smile, I hefted two pokeballs. I was confident that I could throw at least two before the pack could react. I soon put that confidence to the test with a practiced pitch, quickly followed with another. The first ball flew into the opening and hit something with a bright flash. The second one had an identical reaction.

By the time the second one hit, though, four Houndour were bounding out of the den, every one of them about two and a half feet tall. Their bright red eyes shone with a fiery gleam and their lips curled angrily. Within seconds, my team was upon them, wreaking the kind of efficient havoc of which I could have only dreamed.

Dante teleported to the side of one and slammed his fist into its side, instantly knocking it out. Rufus turned into a fiery blur as he rushed another, colliding with it and throwing it to the ground unconscious. Ceto fired a precise stream of water into the chest of another, flipping it end over end. And Lazarus rocketed forward with a crackling palm to deliver a debilitating Thunderpunch to the last one.

Each one was lying unconscious in a matter of a couple of seconds. I did not even realize that my original thrown balls were still unresolved. A violent flash lit the area and an angry Houndoom jumped out of the den. Its lips were curled in a vicious snarl and fire leaked from the corners of its mouth. Its most noticeable characteristic, though, was the fact that it had only one intact horn on its head. The other was broken halfway down.

The Houndoom's body started glowing red in its fury, but it was interrupted by an eruption of the ground beneath it. It was airborne for a second while Azrael emerged with a roar, but it landed on its feet. It blew a stream of fire at Azrael, but I ordered Azrael to trap it in a Sand Tomb. The Houndoom sank into the earth.

I took that opportunity to lob several balls at the unconscious Houndour. The Houndoom struggled to free itself from the quicksand, but the Houndour were all captured by the time it was successful. And at that point, the Houndoom was shaking from exertion, so I threw a ball at the Houndoom with little effort.

The Houndoom saw the ball coming and leapt to the side, dodging it. I smacked myself on the forehead for my lapse in effort. The Houndoom charged me in retaliation, but Azrael was not easily bypassed. His giant tail whipped around and smacked the Houndoom, throwing it to the ground where it lay motionless.

I took a Greatball and pitched it at the motionless hellhound. Less than a minute later, I had a full pack of five Houndour and a Houndoom captured and registered for storage.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I was home. It had been three weeks since I caught the pack of Houndour. I had accompanied Sheila all the way to Fuchsia where I witnessed her beat gym leader Fulton. After that, I parted with Sheila to return home. She would meet back with me once she made her way back to Viridian for the final gym battle.

Before then, I had work to do. My parents were very happy and excited that I had finally returned home with the intention to stay at least for a while. I had the beginnings of a breeder business for Houndoom, and I had a shiny new breeder's license to show for it. It was not difficult to obtain, and having beaten the Gym League would normally have been enough credentials to obtain the license for normal breeds of pokemon. Houndour were on a more restricted list, though, due to their exotic type and difficult training expertise requirement. The fact that I had raised a Houndoom effectively as a starter on my team was more than I needed to obtain the license.

While filling out the license application, I noticed with curiosity a section entitled "Additional Credentials, Family Practice, or Breeding Experience." I grimly realized that that section was probably the only portion of the application that my uncle had filled out. I also realized that my father's clout as a breeder had probably been the reason why my uncle had been given the license.

When I had cleared all obstacles for becoming a licensed breeder and returned to my home with my new breeding team, I started researching Houndour. Even though I had had plenty of experience in training Rufus, I still wanted to be prepared. Rufus had not been raised with others of his kind, so the behavior of the individuals of the pack would be different.

Regarding the actual breeding process, I had found that exactly half of my new team was female, and every one of them was at least two years old. It turned out to be a fairly good thing because they were all of breeding age and I wanted more females without breeding the current females and their offspring with the same males each time. I decided that come mating season, I would breed them within their pack with the male Houndoom.

Then, during the following mating season, I would breed the females with Rufus. By the time the next breeding season after that rolled around, I would breed Rufus with the females from the original litter, and therefore avoid breeding Rufus with his own lineage; that had a high potential to be problematic for the health and well-being of the offspring.

With everything I had learned in mind, I released each Houndour alone, one by one, and introduced them to my team. Each time, a similar chain of events unfolded.

For example, the first time I released a Houndour, I released a male. Rufus immediately established his dominance with a headbutt that flipped the hound onto its back. Rufus then placed his teeth around the Houndour's throat and held it there for around half of a second. When he released, the Houndour was submissive and civil.

It was at that point that I started speaking while Rufus relayed my message. I said, "Hello. My name is Zach and I am now the master of your pack. You've met the new Alpha, Rufus. Your previous Alpha is now your Beta. From now on you will answer to me and Rufus. You will be allowed a measure of freedom, but you will be obedient. I will even allow you to remain with your fellow pack mates, but I will not hesitate to isolate you should you become less than civil."

The Houndour's head was lowered and its stubby tail was between its legs. "Great! I am returning you to your ball now," I finished, and followed through with my statement. In all, it was very efficient and easy to establish dominance over the Houndour. The Houndoom was another matter.

When I released the Houndoom, Rufus wasted no time in attempting to establish dominance. The difference was the Houndoom fought back. After a short battle, the Houndoom lay heaving on the ground underneath Rufus's dug-in paws and tightened hold with his jaws. I repeated my spiel to the Houndoom but with an added, "You are the Beta; Rufus is Alpha. If he needs to reestablish his dominance every day before you realize that, then he will. He is more than capable."

At that point, I released the entirety of the pack after releasing my team all around me. They all huddled together behind the male Houndoom. We all remained put for almost half-an-hour until they grew comfortable enough to relax somewhat. Then I allowed them to run off into the forest within the preserve to give them a taste of the freedom that I offered, with the intention of resuming training the following day.

My parents were present for the entire process. They stayed on the other side of a PokeWall fence and watched with rapt interest. When the Houndour faded into the forest, my father spoke. "They are marvelous, Zach!" I nodded with a smile. "I wonder what we are going to have to spend to feed them…"

At that, I withdrew a business card from my pocket and showed it to him. _Marvin Marshal's Mareep Manager _was written across the top. "I figure a Mareep or two every three days should be enough for the whole pack. It's not cheap, but I am starting a fund within my bank account specifically for this. It's about 100-150Pb for a Mareep, and I'm sure I can make a deal for lower prices if I choose to utilize his business exclusively. I already have 10,000Pb deposited into the fund, so it should last for a while. Not to mention the fact that they will probably hunt pokemon within the walls, which will cut down our food costs."

My father nodded with surprise in his eyes. "I didn't know pokemon training could be so lucrative."

"It only is if you know what you are doing and are constantly engaged with catching pokemon," I replied.

"Fair enough," my father said with a chuckle. "I can't wait to get started with them. What do you think, Francine?"

"I agree. I think they are beautiful creatures," she responded, still looking at the forest.

"That Houndoom's going to be a problem, though. He's a stubborn one," my father said. "I can tell."

And oh, how my father was right. The Beta Houndoom was used to being Alpha, and every day he had to be reminded of the new pecking order. Every damn day for two weeks! And very early in, I quickly realized how difficult it would be to train the rest of the pack. Each Houndour had its own personality, but their prevailing trait was stubbornness. Their individual stubborn personalities compounded with the rest of them to make it that much more difficult.

The worst of their rebelliousness came early and then gradually ebbed. But on that first day, I realized just what it meant for a pokemon to grow up with its own kind.

The location of each hellhound was portrayed on a holographic map of the enclosure, so I knew where they were. But when I actually ventured in to start my first day of actual training, they took me by surprise.

I was smart and had brought Rufus, Dante, and Azrael with me – the rest were wandering around our property – but that did not deter the newest additions to the PokeWall. They blended in with the shade of the trees, and before I knew it, they were jumping out of the shadows in ambush. My pokemon utilized their quick reflexes to guard me while refraining from injuring the Houndour per my orders, but the ambushers quickly retreated back into the shadows when their attack was stymied.

As one of the Houndour fled, I could see that its body blurred in the shade. When it reached a tree, it disappeared behind the trunk without reappearing on the other side. "This is going to get old VERY quickly," I exclaimed. "You will obey or I will isolate you from each other. Now come out and be civil!"

I received no answer, verbal or otherwise, from them. "Fine then. Have it your way." I walked outside of the trees and said, "Rufus, bring them back one by one. Azrael, make sure they don't gang up on him, but let him do the majority of the work. He needs to be seen as their Alpha." I could have easily used the PokeWall to return them to their balls, but I needed to establish dominance with Rufus.

Rufus and Azrael moved forward while Dante stayed with me. Minutes later I heard the sound of snarling and Azrael's roar. Then Rufus came trotting out of the forest with a Houndour hanging by the scruff of its neck in his jaws. He flung it in front of me and ran back to the forest. While he was gone, I addressed the Houndour.

"So, are you starting to get the picture?" Its head was lowered stubbornly, refusing to look me in the eyes. "I'll take that as a 'yes'. Now behave while Rufus retrieves the rest of your group."

I repeated that speech for every one of them. The Houndoom was the last to be retrieved, and Rufus brought him by the scruff of his neck as well, though his body did not hang freely and instead dragged along the dirt. Rufus presented the captured Houndoom to me proudly and I said, "If this must be the way we start the day from now on, then you are going to have to get used to pain. Rufus is your Alpha and is very much capable of that position. In case you hadn't noticed, he is much stronger than you. But it doesn't have to be like this. You'll learn. My team and I will teach you. I won't make you fight, but I expect you to grow healthily."

The Houndoom only glowered at me resentfully. "I guess that's how it's going to be then," I sighed. "Rufus, Azrael, whip them into shape!" I yelled.

Azrael roared and lunged at the hounds, forcing them to start running. Rufus ran ahead of them and led the way while Azrael made sure none of them fell behind, including the Houndoom. I directed Rufus's path and my parents observed from a safe distance outside of the zone. I put them through all sorts of exercises to tire them out, but the Houndoom was very tough and aggressive. It attacked Rufus many times, and each time, Rufus would put him in his place with a quick beating.

But long after the Houndour collapsed with exhaustion, the Houndoom continued to defiantly continue with the drills. It was not surprising given that he was the evolved form of Houndour, but after taking so many beatings from Rufus, I expected him to give in. That was not the case. I literally had to work the Houndoom until it passed out.

That was the pace of the day for the next two weeks. During the first week, I decided to give names to each of them. I named the female Houndour Emy, Ruby, and Tope. The male Houndour were named Dirk and Kole, and the Beta Houndoom was named Molotov. I also found a way to link the PokeWall map to my PokeDex so that I could always see where my hounds were while inside of the enclosure.

By the end of the two weeks, I had had enough of Molotov's impertinent demeanor and finally managed to put him in his place, and keep him there. I accomplished this exactly as I had done so with Rufus. It was afternoon and Molotov had just gone through a beating for trying to overtake Rufus in a group run. I stopped them, walked over to the front of Molotov, and demanded, "When are you going to get it? This pack is no longer under your control except as delegated by me or Rufus. Do you enjoy being swatted down over and over?"

The impudent hellhound then huffed and turned away from me. Without a second's hesitation, I reached over and grabbed him by the coarse scruff of his neck. I yanked him up into the air and slammed him onto his back, rotating my hand in the process so that I was holding him down right above the skull-like bone on his sternum. He looked at me surprised with his teeth bared, but he could not arch his head to reach me.

I bared mine back at Molotov and pressed hard on his chest. He raked my forearm with his paws, drawing lines of red, but I held fast. It was the only effective means to make him submit of which I knew. I forced him to submit to me. While I did so, Rufus loomed above and stared him down. We stayed in that position for a full minute before I released him.

When I let him go, Molotov lowered his head resentfully but submissively. "That's much better," I commented. Then I ordered them to resume their training.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Being home and training my new team allowed me to observe the current practices of my father's and my business. Separated within the enclosure was a long stretch of grass devoid of any foliage that my father used as a sprinting track for his Rapidash and Ponyta. There was also a large free range portion of the PokeWall in which the stallions and my Tauros spent the majority of their time. Also in those areas were the fire-proof stables.

I gave my team the largest area since it was not being used and because it was heavily wooded. I wanted them to feel like they had plenty of forest to roam and hunt.

My father's days usually began early with him releasing different groups of the horses from the stables at a time. He would release the Rapidash first to allow them to run and burn off excess energy from being cooped up for the night. The most aggressive Rapidash were released first so that they would not hurt the others.

The stallions were inspected periodically for any health problems, and they were scrubbed with a steel brush that could withstand any unintentional flares of their manes. Then, as noon approached – the hottest time of the day – my father would corral the racing steeds into the sprint track area, so that they could feed off of the sun's heat and drive themselves to run faster.

After the steeds were finished on the sprinting track, my father would lead them back to the main zone and allow them to rest for a couple of hours. Then, he would spend the remainder of the day working with the steeds to keep them friendly towards humans, or training the ones that needed to be broken.

The process of breaking a Ponyta was much easier than that of a Rapidash. Special equipment was necessary so that the stallions' flames would not hurt the trainers. Ponytas' fire did not burn as hot or as intense, but they were still not to be trifled with.

To start, the trainers garb themselves in a thin layer of special material made from the skin of Azumarill that withhold about 10 pounds overall of water. Over that, they place a flame-retardant layer made from the pelts of Vulpix. Thicker areas cover the trainers' backs, groins, chest, hands, and face to keep them protected.

After they don their gear, trainers then mount the stallions atop specialized saddles made from Charizard skin and ride them until they either give in or collapse. Needless to say, the equipment needed to break Rapidash and Ponyta was very expensive.

Rapidash were much more violent and had much more stamina. It took a very strong person to ride one until it gave up, and one who could withstand intense heat for that time without passing out, being thrown from the saddle, or being injured from the flames. On top of that, Rapidash generally take over twice the amount of breaking sessions to fully submit, as opposed to Ponyta who on average take around three different breakings.

I soon established a routine like my father, except with my hounds. I altered their sleep schedule so that that they spent half of the time they were awake in daylight. At noon, I would wake them up and have them run. It was also when I would feed them so that they had an impetus to listen. As dusk approached, I would work on teamwork and leadership on mine and Rufus's part. At night, I would put them through more training to develop certain characteristics such as obedience, stamina, physical development, and firepower.

Once I settled into the routine and about three weeks had passed, I allowed my parents to enter the area to observe the hounds first-hand. What I saw surprised me.

Kole and Ruby were more obedient than the others, so I allowed them to interact with my parents. My father's interest was not shocking in the least bit. He scratched the fur on the back of their necks, and although they were not used to that kind of affection, they allowed it to persist. What surprised me was my mother's influence.

While my father played with Ruby and Kole, my mother was approached by Tope, who was the most aggressive of the Houndour. I did not realize what was happening until it was already underway. My mother was giving her simple commands, and she was following them. She was sitting in front of my mother and looking to her with a sort of reverence.

I was further astounded when Molotov – who was mean to everyone – loped over and sniffed her without aggression. I watched very nervously and had Rufus eyeing them fiercely. Dante was ready nearby to teleport in and defend my mother should the hellhounds attack her. But they never did.

My mother rested a hand on Molotov's head and he almost seemed content. I was utterly confused and astounded that they were so taken with her. My father also voiced his concern, to which my mother merely waved him off. When my father approached to interact with Molotov and Tope, Molotov allowed fire to lick at his lips in warning, causing my father to stop and back away with his hands up.

"This is a bit too strange for me," I admitted, seeing how well she was able to placate the hounds. Several theories raced across my mind in an attempt to explain the odd circumstances. Perhaps Molotov was more comfortable around women, or at least people that had not captured him. Perhaps my mother was just naturally able to connect with the Houndour line easier than others. Perhaps Molotov was just letting her get close to him for some reason as a taunt or as a sadistic plot to inflict her harm. I was confounded.

From that point on, my mother joined me in training my hellhounds. Time seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, the trees were changing color. Autumn brought migratory flocks of birds and cooler air. With the changing of the season came an unwelcomed, yet anticipated, interloper.

While I worked with the hounds, a sudden shadow passed over me, and my body erupted into scalding pain. I saw Rufus stop what he was doing when I cried out, and he started sprinting towards me. But before he could reach me, pain erupted in an area apart from my wrist and my calf. My lower back screamed in pain for an instant before Rufus leapt on to my back and ripped the ghost away from me with a dark _crunch! _

Rufus shook the ghost around in the air, only holding on to it because of his dark Crunch while the ghost shrieked. "Dark Pulse 'til you kill it!" I yelled between spasms of pain.

Rufus then pinned it to the ground and started sending pulse after pulse directly into the Banette's face. After two pulses, the ghost evaporated, leaving behind a lingering baritone laugh as if to mock me with the promise that no matter what I did, it would return to take pieces of me over time.

Rufus sent one last pulse at the air where the Banette had been, but nothing came of it. The pain in my back lessened, but a lingering dull ache informed me that it had left another curse on me. I ignored it for the time being and started thinking of my next method for killing it, though my unease was great.

Life then continued as usual. Soon enough, the leaves of the forest trees started falling until, at last, the air started dipping below freezing, foreshadowing the coming of snow in the near future.

Sheila and I corresponded frequently. She updated me on her progress to Cinnabar City, where she decided to stay for a while relaxing on the beach and drinking Margaritas. Finally, during the middle of November, she arrived in Viridian City.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Expert Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979E**

**Active Pokemon: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

Lazarus – Electabuzz

**Pokemon in Preparation:**

Saraph – Charmeleon

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note: Hi everyone. This chapter took a little longer than normal, but I also just landed a new (PAID) job. It might make writing more difficult than usual, but not impossible. SO, I hope you liked the chapter and don't forget to let me know what you think about it! Thanks all!


	27. Chapter 27: Boot Camp

Chapter 27

It was in the middle of a particularly cold day that I heard a feminine voice call out my name in the distance. I was directing a low-intensity drill session with Dirk, Emy, and Tope, with the assistance of Lazarus and Azrael, while my mother was using Rufus's help to hold a synchronized drill session with Ruby and Molotov. The pack was somewhat sullen since I had recently sold Kole to a young trainer, but the pack dynamic had already been shaken up with the recent evolutions of Ruby and Tope. It was only a matter of time before I could evolve Emy. I redirected my attention to the athletic girl jogging across the non-wooded area within the enclosure.

"Sheila!" I called out happily, and met her halfway with a warm embrace.

"So these are your new pokemon?" Sheila asked after we parted.

I nodded and turned to look at them. "That's Dirk, Emy, and Tope," I said pointing at them. "And they are Ruby and Molotov."

"Molotov, huh?" Sheila said humorously. "He's missing a horn."

"I am aware," I replied. "He was missing it when I found them."

"Suuuuure he was," she said, sniggering. "Your mom seems pretty taken with them. Can I meet 'em?"

"Yeah. But I would steer clear of Molotov," I mentioned cautiously. "Just because my mother gets along with them doesn't mean that he will get along with you. He's pretty aggressive. Same with Tope."

With that said, I led Sheila over to the Houndoom and Houndour, and introduced her to them. They were all wary of Sheila, but Dirk and Emy soon warmed up to her after I showed them that she was a friend.

We spent the next hour catching up. During the past several months of training my team of Houndour towards evolution, I was occasionally visited by pokemon trainers who would issue challenges. Most of them were between the Cinnabar and Viridian gyms and wanted to test themselves to see if they could beat me, thinking that if they could then they could definitely beat the gym. Others thought that they could gain a bit of fame by beating someone with an unbeaten gym record. Others simply wanted to see my team in action up close, even if they had to lose to do so.

Many trainers would pose as prospective customers for my male Houndour, which were very rare breeds, especially in Kanto. One would think that a person should not come into another person's home or property and then stir up trouble. But in the world of pokemon training, common courtesy is sometimes disregarded. It's just how it is. Therefore, I quickly lost my feelings of surprise or frustration when a customer would immediately pull out a pokeball and point at me. I only became angry when the trainer would allow me to give them a full tour of our facility while making me believe he or she was only interested in purchasing one of my Houndour. After all, they were just wasting my time at that point.

In the end, I welcomed the challenges; they allowed my team some exercise and it allowed me to showcase Rufus' fighting prowess to prospective customers. It was how I sold Kole; after beating a trainer with Rufus, the trainer's friend immediately bought Kole from me for 25,000Pb. He knew that Kole was not Rufus' offspring, but the fact that I had trained him was enough.

I also used those battles to train Saraph, who was still far behind the rest of my team. I would generally use her as my first pokemon and then switch her out once she earned a little experience. Since trainers usually use their weakest pokemon first, she had no problem racking up a few wins. In fact, the battles helped her develop her growing body much more smoothly than if she had just trained with my team.

By the time Sheila arrived, Saraph was almost as tall as me, she was growing two nubs on her upper back, and her scales were deep crimson. She looked to be close to evolving.

Apart from my progress with my team alongside my mother, my father was doing spectacularly. Our stables were nearly full and he had plans to start breeding some of the more impressive stallions. Our family business may have only been in the budding stage of its development, but it was strong.

In my free time, I followed the news. One of the benefits of not constantly being on the road was that I was able to become much more aware of current events. In the last couple of months, I watched as Hoenn continually pushed into the Sevii Islands. At first, the news had showed Hoennese warships in suspicious locations around the Islands. From what Sheila had told me in the past, I knew that the Hoenn military was keeping its invasive operations quiet.

As the months started to pass, however, the Hoenn military began to care less about subtlety. Just two weeks before Sheila arrived, the news revealed a brazen incursion by Hoennese forces across the Sevii Island maritime border, near the northwestern-most landmass of the Sevii Islands. The forces of Hoenn were few, so the Sevii navy was able to intimidate and force them back without violence. It showed that Hoenn was becoming more aggressive. Hoenn looked like it was trying to goad Sevii into making the first move, but the Sevii navy did not want to provoke Hoenn or give Hoenn a reason to fight by destroying their ships.

The situation did not bode well for the Sevii Islands. I was given a little clarity when I invited Aoro to our house not long after the news story broke. It took Aoro a few days, but he eventually accepted my invitation and teleported to my house for dinner. It was not until after dinner, when I brought him to the parlor without my parents, that I chose to breach the subject about which I had invited him over to talk.

I offered Aoro a glass of Scotch. He accepted the glass and said, "I know your birthday was in August, but happy belated birthday. 19 now, right?"

"Thank you. And yes, I'm 19 now," I replied, finding a seat.

"Ah, that's a good age to join the Ranger Corps!" he exclaimed, also sitting down.

Not being able to take it anymore, I abruptly changed the subject. "I've noticed a few things on the news recently that have me worried."

"Is that so? Tell me about it," he replied, taking a sip of the alcohol, seemingly taken aback by my sudden statement.

"Specifically, what's going on in the Sevii Islands. And, I'm worried about Johto," I said, trying to see if Aoro knew about the weapons being supplied to the Meteors by our neighboring country.

Aoro's eyes narrowed. "I see we've reached the purpose of my visit." He looked towards the door and checked to see if my parents were around. When he did not see them, he continued, "I know that Elite McGall used PME on you, and I know that he told you about Johto's connection to the Meteors. I wasn't particularly happy to hear that he did so – that information is classified." His voice was level, but I could hear the unhappy tone behind it.

I realized that it may not be an appropriate topic to discuss, and for the sake of keeping the peace, I switched the focus of the conversation. "My apologies, I shouldn't have brought it up. I am still worried about the Sevii Islands, though."

Aoro let out a deep sigh and leaned back in his chair. "Regardless of whether he should have told your or not, he did, and now you know about it. Unfortunately, the two issues are linked somewhat." He took another drink from his glass.

"The reason you probably haven't heard anything about Johto is because they've gone quiet. I suspect it is because Hoenn is on the war path and Johto does not want to enter into anything that might compromise its security, such a war with Kanto. Hoenn has had its sights on Johto for hundreds of years and going to war with Kanto would leave them vulnerable to an attack. And since Kanto has historically aided Johto against Hoenn's attempts at takeover, they would find themselves screwed if they alienated themselves from us."

"That bothers me!" I exclaimed. "We have offered them protection in the past from Hoenn. Why would they want to attack us?"

"I don't know," Aoro replied solemnly. "But in a way, however grim, this tension between Sevii and Johto is good luck for us, and provides the link between the two subjects. Hoenn's ground military capabilities far outweigh those of the Sevii Islands. I suspect that, unless other countries help the islands, they will win in just a couple of years. That would give them another base of naval operations and resources. There is a possibility that they may set their sights on Johto after that. It is lucky for us because Johto would need our help and would not risk weakening itself in case that scenario came to pass."

"Still," I protested. "Johto needs to be held accountable for supplying the Meteors. So many people died! We can't just let them get away with it!"

Aoro took another sip of his Scotch and said calmly, "It is much more complex than that. We know that the weapon designs and materials originated in the Johto military, but we cannot prove that they were given by the Johto military. In other words, we can't prove that the government purposefully supplied terrorists with weapons. If we try to demand reparations without proof of their wrongdoings, we will be seen as the promulgators of war between us and Johto.

"We want to avoid war with Johto just as much as we want Johto to avoid war with Hoenn. If we try to make them pay in any form, we weaken them against the potential Hoenn attack. If Hoenn attacks, we either help them or we allow them to fall, meaning Hoenn will be our next door neighbors, which we don't want. We have trade agreements and business alliances in Johto, and for all we know, Hoenn might turn its sights on US after that, destroying our economic interdependence.

"Basically, Zachariah, we don't want war. The political rhetoric that would be used to apply punitive measures to Johto would provoke a war with Johto. Parliament is now privy to a lot of the details, and much of them are against any provocative measures against Johto."

"…It just doesn't seem right," I replied after he finished, struggling to understand. "Someone needs to be held accountable for the Meteor's actions."

"That's one facet of politics, and leadership frankly, Zachariah. Sometimes we have to settle for a bad situation in order to avoid a worse one," Aoro said, draining the rest of his glass.

"That's stupid," I replied.

"Haha. Ain't it?" he replied with his booming laugh. "Also, I don't think I need to tell you, but do NOT talk about this with anyone else."

Aoro had explained the situation more clearly for me, but I was still nervous about it. The mystery behind Johto's motives for wanting to go to war with Kanto was unsettling. I escaped from the nerve-wracking suspense of it all by training my hounds and training with my team. Sheila's arrival also ushered in a welcome distraction from the dread of forces beyond my control.

Sheila had had much luck on her journey. She told me that she had stopped in the Seafoam Island caves for about five minutes before rejecting the temperature and moving on. She lost her first battle with Leader Zaiden after passing out in the furnace-like gym, but she was able to beat him the second time around. Afterwards, she took it easy for a while, relaxing on the beach with cocktails and her pokemon.

When Sheila arrived, I spent the rest of the day continuing my work routine with her. Later that night after dinner, we relaxed in my parents' living room in front of the television.

A news story was breaking about a few Hannotate mercenaries employed by BioTech, who were arrested for using excessive force against petty criminals. The story went on to explain the brief history of the Hannotate clashing with local law enforcement ever since the law was passed to allow them to serve as private security.

Rufus was curled up at my feet, Dante was meditating in the corner of the room, Ceto was in the pond outside, Lazarus was also outside somewhere, and Azrael, Saraph, and Gilles were in their pokeballs. Azrael was in his pokeball because that was his preference, but I kept Gilles and Saraph in their balls on principle. Saraph was still much too obstinate for me to let her run around unattended andGilles certainly didn't need to be floating around unchecked.

While the news anchor droned on, Sheila decided to tell me her plans.

"I am going to apply to Gym Leader Buell's gym team," she announced.

"You want to be a gym trainer?" I asked, surprised. "That's cool! When are you going to do that?"

"After I beat the Viridian gym," she responded, smiling. "I already emailed the Celadon Gym to notify them of my future application so that if they want to watch my match, they can."

"That's… Really smart," I said back.

"What? You surprised?" she asked with a smirk.

"Yeah!" I said jokingly, earning me an insincere pout.

"Anyway," she continued, "if they accept me, then I can train with grass types and learn so much more. After a while, I will be able to start challenging the Elite 4. Eventually, I may be able to become the gym leader if I'm better than all of the other gym trainers."

"You want to be a Kanto gym leader?" I asked.

"Yes. First of all, Hoenn doesn't have a grass-type gym. Second, I like that this country has a parliament to deal with most of the politics. I wouldn't have as much political responsibility here as I would in Hoenn if I became a leader there."

"Fair enough," I said. "That means you are going to be spending some time in Celadon."

"That's right," Sheila said curtly.

It was an unfortunate, or fortunate, reality that Sheila would need to spend most of her time in Celadon City. Granted, she had Shade for teleportation, whose abilities would only grow stronger with time and practice, but I did not see myself settling down anytime soon. As it was, living at home was only a temporary arrangement until I left to an unknown location for boot camp.

At least Sheila would be in Kanto for the foreseeable future.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Another month had passed. Sheila had beaten Leader Williamson; with her grass-heavy team, the gym leader's pokemon did not stand a chance. She had since taken up residence in Celadon City, where Leader Buell had accepted her application to train with the gym. We corresponded regularly, and on the weekends, Sheila would teleport to my parents' house to spend time with me.

During the month after Sheila left, two significant events passed. The first was the day that I sold Dirk.

The buyer – a girl in her mid-twenties named Naomi – had me take her on a tour of the compound before challenging me to a battle. Beforehand, though, she said, "Before we start, I have a proposition. I want you to use the Houndour in battle so I can see it in action."

"If you think I'm going to pit him against pokemon of the same caliber as my starting team, you're crazy," I told her.

"Well it's good that you pointed that out," she said, hoisting a pokeball. "As it turns out, I was hoping this could be a lower-leveled fight. I have a level-14 Pidgey and a level-24 Raticate. You see, I'm looking for a graduation present for my little sister, and I want to make sure that it's the real deal."

"You just up and tell me your pokemon and their levels?" I asked.

"Well I know you have a Houndour, so we're even," she responded smugly. "In fact, I think you got the better end of the deal. Of course, the usual battle rules will apply."

I laughed. "You want me to send one of my pokemon against two of yours and give you half of my money if I lose? You ARE crazy."

"Fine, do you have any other pokemon you want to use?" Naomi asked.

I thought of Saraph. "I do, but your two cannot hold up against her."

"Is that so? What level is she?" the girl asked.

I hesitated for a second before I responded. I did not think there was any harm in telling her. "She's level 41."

"Is that so?" she asked excitedly. "I have a 44! How 'bout it?"

I nodded. Saraph was tough. And she was also trained by me, so I was very confident in her abilities. "Great!" she said. "But if I win, and I still want the Houndour, I want a discount. If we treat this like a normal battle, the reward money can act as the discount," she said, growing smug again.

"I like the concept," I admitted, rubbing my chin. "But then I will set the terms. Instead of taking your money when you lose, this will instead be more of a bet. The bet will be no more than 500Pb because that it the most I am willing to give as a discount. Of course, if you lose, you will owe me the same regardless of whether you want the Houndour or not."

"That's fair," she replied with a fake pout. "But then, I like a good gamble. Okay! Go, Pidgey!" she yelled, and released the brown and white bird pokemon. It flared its wings and chirped, then it flew about ten feet in the air.

"Alright, Dirk, you're up. Just like we practiced. Ember." The pre-evolution hellhound shot out a fiery puff, but the Pidgey dodged it. It then dove towards Dirk while sending a gust of wind, which pushed Dirk back about a foot, and then fluttered away. It was too far away for Dirk to accurately attack at his skill level, so I waited.

Naomi waited as well, but seeing that I was not going to make a move, she ordered the Pidgey to attack. It swooped down quickly towards Dirk, and when it was within range, I yelled, "Flamethrower!" Dirk shot out a stream of fire 15 feet long and intercepted his dive-bombing avian foe.

The Pidgey's feathers caught fire and it was forced to withdraw from the attack, but it spiraled toward the ground instead of rising. It flailed when it hit the ground, trying to put out the fire, but I ordered Dirk to bite it before it could recover. Dirk rushed the vulnerable bird and caught it between his jaws, shaking it violently back and forth.

Before Dirk killed the Pidgey, Naomi recalled it with a red flash. "Not bad," she commented, and then released a nearly three-foot-tall dark brown rodent with two pronounced teeth.

"Flamethrower," I ordered, not waiting for the Raticate to act. Despite me giving my order first, the Raticate sped forward in a strong Quick-Attack. The Raticate hit Dirk hard, but he fought through the pain and directed his fiery stream at the rat-like pokemon.

The Raticate bounded away with a large patch of singed fur on its back, but I yelled, "Follow it! Bite!" The Raticate did not make it far before the hellhound overtook it and delivered a nasty bite to its flank. It shrieked and turned at its trainer's call to deliver a Hyper Fang.

The rat's jaws overextended to an almost gruesome degree, and they snapped together with the speed and strength of an Ursaring jaw-trap onto Dirk's shoulder.

Dirk yelped and let go. I ordered him to use Ember, knowing that at his level, he probably would not be able to use Flamethrower effectively after using it twice in a row beforehand. The ember burned into the Raticate's side, forcing it to let go as well. The two combating pokemon then stood facing each other.

My opponent and I did not waste any time calling out our next commands. The Raticate shot forward with another Quick-Attack and slammed into Dirk before he could issue another ember, throwing him to the ground and knocking him out.

I sighed and returned Dirk to his pokeball. Naomi returned her weakened Raticate as well, as I had expected; it would be very unwise for her to use the Raticate against a much stronger pokemon.

"Very, very good," Naomi commented. "I think I'll take him! First, though, I want that discount," and she released Nidorina, an evolved female of the Nidoran species. Its skin was much lighter than the Nidorino that Chris had been training, its ears were shorter and more rounded, and its venomous barbs were wider at their base.

The Nidorina let out a challenging bark while I released Saraph onto the field in front of me. "Oh wow!" Naomi observed. "Your Charmeleon looks like it's about to evolve! I should have guessed you would use a fire-type."

"Well, this _is _the McAfee Infernal Competitors," I quipped. "And I'm well-aware of that fact. Maybe your loss can help her along, huh?" I posed humorously.

"Not this fight!" Naomi roared passionately. "We will not lose! Rhea, dig!"

_Crap_, I thought. "Dodge, Saraph!" I ordered. Saraph snorted two small mushrooms of smoke from her nostrils and started to sidestep warily. Either the Nidorina was taking her time, or she was simply not adept with the skill. Either way, it took nearly twenty seconds before the Nidorina emerged underneath Saraph, whipping its barbed ears upwards with the attack.

Saraph was thrown back from subterranean attack and the Nidorina followed up with a charge. "Dodge!" I yelled, and Saraph jumped to the side, leaving her claws out to slash the Nidorina's side as its charge missed. Three long red stripes appeared on its leathery hide, but it shook off the attack.

"Flamethrower," I ordered, and Saraph let loose a strong jet of flames almost 25 feet in length. It was nowhere near as impressive as Rufus, but her flames were much more powerful compared to Dirk's. The Nidorina was bathed in flames, but it quickly bounded away out of range.

Knowing that Nidorina have very potent venom, and wanting to avoid that hazard, my options were limited. Flame Charge was out of the question and it was too far away for Flamethrower, so I told Saraph to use Rock Slide. She immediately lifted three soccer ball-sized rocks from the ground and threw them at her opponent. As she did so, the Nidorina ran forward and leapt over the rocks as they surged towards it.

The Nidorina twisted in the air, using a beautiful Aerial Ace technique. Just as the Nidorina was about to land the hit, Saraph planted her right foot behind herself and jammed her horned head upwards, catching her attacker in midair and countering the attack. "Follow-up flames," I yelled.

Saraph blew fire once more onto the now-prone Nidorina, causing it to yelp in pain before jumping up and running away. "Hold," I ordered, allowing the injury-slowed Nidorina to put some distance between them. Close-quarters-combat was not the kind of fight I was looking for.

As soon as Saraph halted her stream of fire, the Nidorina whipped its head around and flung some of its barbs at Saraph. Two of them hit Saraph in the upper chest and the Nidorina charged forward.

"Flame-Burst!" I called out, but the Nidorina had closed the distance and started to spew black liquid at Saraph to my dismay. The black liquid splattered Saraph's body, but she was not ravaged with convulsions, which Venoshock would have caused if she were poisoned. Saraph had managed to avoid getting poisoned by the poison-type's attack simply by being far enough away that the stingers did not penetrate her scales.

Despite being covered with black goo, Saraph sent a large ball of fire at her opponent, which burst upon contact and washed over its body. The Nidorina faltered and collapsed, breathing heavily. I rejoiced inwardly and watched Saraph hopefully. When nothing happened, I sighed and raised her pokeball to recall her.

Right before I pressed the button, the skin covering the nubs on her back ripped open. Long skinny bones extended several feet from the tears, and Saraph roared in pain. Then her body lit up in a flash of white light. Her roar grew louder and deeper, and when the light faded away, she was nearly 14 feet tall when standing on her back feet – a few feet shorter than Azrael. Female dragons tend to be larger than their male counterparts, so her size did not surprise me, even if she was smaller than the average female.

Saraph's scales were darker crimson, her wings were each about ten feet long, her arms and legs had much more muscle, and the tip of her tail was on fire. She was beautiful! As soon as her roar died down, she collapsed on the ground. I recalled her with a flurry of pride and worry, knowing that I would need to bring her to the Pokemon Center. Then I turned to Naomi and said, "You were saying? Not this battle?"

Naomi stuck her tongue out at me. "Don't be so down," I told her. "After all, you're about to gain a new pokemon. Besides, it's not like I beat your team," I said coolly.

"As if you could," she replied confidently. "You're good; I'll give you that. But you're not as good as me yet, kid."

"Oh yeah?" I said, taking offense at her patronization.

"Yeah," she said coolly, and then brushed her hair away from her lapel, revealing an inch-long bronze bar pinned thereon. A single star was etched in the middle.

"You've beaten an Elite…" I murmured with recognition.

"That's right. Maybe one day you can challenge me and put your money where your mouth is, but that day's not today. You beat my pokemon fair and square, though, so here're your winnings. " She linked her PokeDex to mine and transferred 25,500Pb to me. "And the money for the Houndour."

"Thanks, but I have question, Naomi. Why do you have such low level pokemon? And why do you want a wild-caught Houndour instead of one that's been bred?" I asked.

"I have my own reasons," she replied defensively. "But I guess you deserve an explanation for your Houndour. He will be a present for my sister for her graduation and for her debut as a trainer. You're the only Houndour breeder in Kanto, and breeders in other countries charge an arm and a leg. I think I lucked out and found one for cheap before you got a chance to raise the prices once you started breeding them from your own. I think that a fire type is a really good starting choice. He will keep my sister warm when it's cold, he can cook her food, and he will protect her from the bugs in Viridian Forest."

I nodded. "Your heart's in the right place, but you need to understand a few things about Houndour…"

By the time I finished informing her of the basics of raising a Houndour, a couple hours had passed.

"You really need a pamphlet or something," Naomi commented. "I'm going to forget, like, all of that."

"Right," I said, realizing how much information I had covered. "Then for now, the most important things you need to know are that their fire is made primarily with toxic chemicals, but they can be trained to produce fire without them. If not, your sister could be poisoned by the chemicals if she eats anything cooked by it. And you need to let them burn off steam if they get too mad or battle-frenzied."

With Dirk finally sold, I was left with two-thirds of the pack, leaving a palpable melancholy hanging in the air. However, the melancholy only lasted until the end of winter.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The second important event happened a few weeks after Emy evolved. Snow had fallen and the female Houndoom were showing signs of being in heat, which meant that it was time to breed them with Molotov.

In the end, it was very simple for me to accelerate the process. When it came time for them to mate, I simply had Rufus establish dominance over Molotov in the old-fashioned way – he overpowered Molotov and held him on his back. Then I removed Rufus and two of the females from the enclosure. Nature did the rest. Then I switched out the female Houndoom with another.

After a week, I took all of the female Houndoom to the Pokemon Center where they were examined, and found each to be pregnant. The melancholy still lingered, but the happy promise of hellpuppies in a few months was enough to hold the pack together until they were born in three months at the end of winter.

The gloominess of the enclosure was overshadowed by Saraph's evolution. She was now big enough to take on Azrael as a legitimate sparring partner, even if her skill was insufficient. Of course, I did not even think of sending her against him at first. She needed to grow accustomed to her new body, muscles, and abilities. I immediately formed a training regimen for her that addressed those new developments.

The first thing on that regimen was to assess her fire capabilities with Rufus' assistance. Rufus could project his fire to a distance of around 50 feet. Saraph could immediately project a stream of fire to 30 feet. Because of her significantly larger and stronger lungs, though, she could maintain the stream almost as long as Rufus right off the bat. Finally, I was able to assess the heat of Saraph's fire with a little help from Azrael.

Azrael raised an enormous boulder from the ground and hefted it between Saraph and Rufus, whom I then ordered to assault it with a continued stream of fire. After a minute, I told them to stop, and then I measured the temperature of each side of the rock with a high-temperature thermometer.

Rufus' side measured almost 700 degrees hotter than Saraph's, showing just how far Rufus had come. It was not a reflection of Saraph's abilities, who stomped the ground in anger and whipped the boulder with her tail. From then on, Saraph joined Rufus and Azrael in fire training to strengthen her abilities.

After assessing Saraph's fire skills, I strapped my harness onto Azrael's back and took to the skies to address her comfortability with flying. On our first time up, Saraph flew very awkwardly. She had no knowledge of wind currents or how to manipulate her body to its maximum effectiveness. However, she had a teacher.

Azrael's breed was clumsier in the air than most other dragons, even if he was faster, but he had mostly learned to get past that. We spent almost two hours in the air, during which time Saraph fell twice. Like Azrael, she was tough and persistent. She leapt back into the sky as soon as she recovered each time to return to our lessons on soaring, maneuvering, and safe descents.

After two weeks, Saraph could maneuver just about as agilely as Azrael, but she was nowhere near as fast. After three weeks, I decided that it was time to ride her.

While my mount of choice would forever and always be Azrael, I wanted Saraph to be comfortable with carrying a passenger in case I ever needed her to.

It was a vastly different experience than riding Azrael. For one, she was smaller than him, so the wind around me felt more obstructive; like I was having more of an effect on her flying than I did on Azrael. It felt like the difference between riding a flying boulder and a flying horse. Consequently, Saraph could change direction so much faster than Azrael that I became intimately familiar with the feeling of vertigo.

Second, despite the fact that Charizard are notoriously ill-tempered and obstinate, Saraph had maintained the same level of stubbornness as before she had evolved. I had a feeling that I had gained her respect by delivering on my promise to help her evolve. However, she was anything but tame or obedient.

I had a difficult time controlling the direction we flew and the smoothness of the ride. She seemed to love the new frontier that she had been introduced to and enjoyed flying freely without direction, even when I was on her back and trying to give her commands.

Luckily for me, Azrael was never too far away. Sometimes he needed to come in close to forcibly catch Saraph's attention in order to make her listen to me. Trying to control Saraph made me realize just how strong the bond between Azrael and I was, and I was more grateful than ever for it.

In spite of Saraph's obstinacy, I was very happy for and proud of her, but I felt much less in control than when I rode Azrael, which was not something I enjoyed.

When I landed after our first aerial exercise, I noticed my father looking on with an intense longing in his eyes. I had a feeling that he wanted a ride atop Saraph, but I did not trust her to behave with anyone yet. Since evolving, her aggression towards others had become more commonplace. At least she knew Sheila and my parents, so she was not outright hostile towards them. That courtesy, however, was not extended to anyone else, and as a result, I often kept her in her pokeball.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Near the end of winter brought the return of my ghostly stalker, howling puppies, and the imminence of my departure.

It was one thing to think of many ways to kill something. If my time with Gilles had taught me anything, it was that there were infinite ways to kill things and make them suffer in the process. But I had also learned throughout my travels that there were ways around killing things to rid myself of their threat.

The memory of saving Sheila from Beedrill by using a pokeball – or myself for that matter from Tauros – gave me the idea that I could possibly end the threat of the Banette without killing it. The problem with the idea was that there were no recorded instances of a caught Banette. I had caught Gilles only because his body had materialized. It was a long shot, so I had a backup plan.

When it finally happened, Gilles and Rufus were nowhere near me. I was flying on Saraph when the Banette struck. In the middle of a flight maneuver, my lower back, my wrist, and my calf all erupted in pain at once. Then, all of a sudden, I felt weightless and I did not feel the beating of Saraph's wings.

Despite being in intense physical pain, I could tell that I was in free fall. My fall was abruptly halted when Azrael caught me with his feet. In my painful delirium, I screamed, "DANTE!"

_J'Kun! I'm coming! _I heard in my head. I saw the ground rushing up to meet me as Azrael descended. Then, with a _pop! _I saw Dante appear, clinging to Azrael's talon. He reached out to me, we disappeared, and reappeared a moment later on solid ground.

I looked around, still in pain but fighting through it to try to get a glimpse of my attacker. _J'Kun, I am your shield, _Dante said, separating in to four images around me defensively.

"Thanks, Dante, but get me an empty pokeball now," I ordered him.

_J'Kun? You will be defenseless, _he responded. Another moment passed and there was an earth-shattering crash as Azrael landed twenty feet away, accidentally setting off a mini earthquake and causing me to fall to the ground.

I gave him a look as I rose from the ground. He nodded and disappeared. Azrael recovered and ran to stand over me defensively. "Azrael, as soon as you see it, use _Crunch _and hold it still," I told him. His gravelly snarl affirmed his retention of my command.

We were quiet, hearing only the wind rising and falling around us. As the wind rose, a baritone moan rose as well until it changed into laughing. "Show yourself, asshole!" I yelled, feeling despairingly frustrated. The laughing only grew louder.

Suddenly, Dante appeared next to me holding a pokeball. "Thanks, Dante," I told him, taking the metallic ball.

A ball of purple fire suddenly started dancing around the area in front of us, and Azrael roared defensively showing his enormous teeth. The fire then shot straight towards me, but it was intercepted by Dante, who burst into a shadowy fire. "Dante!" I yelled. "Hurry, get my pokeballs!"

Dante's eyes glowed green and he disappeared despite being on fire. In the meantime, Azrael pounced forward towards the source of the purple fire. His attack missed and the Banette appeared behind him, lashing out with its shadowy claws into Azrael's haunch while I yelled, "Behind you!"

Azrael whipped around with his jaws distorted in shadow and crunched down onto the doll-like ghost. But, instead of viciously shaking the ghost back and forth, he held it still while I ran up to him and pressed the pokeball into the ghost.

Unfortunately, the pokeball passed through the ghost and fizzled on Azrael's nose. The doll's head then turned 180 degrees around to look at me, and its eyes widened mockingly. It let out a loud and high-pitched hysterical laugh before I yelled, "Just kill it!"

Azrael proceeded to crunch down repeatedly, chewing through the ghost as if it were a Pidgeotto. Suddenly, Dante appeared holding a pouch with my pokeballs and collapsed.

I quickly found Dante's pokeball and returned him, quenching the purple fire. He was burned, but at least he was no longer burning. With a melancholy sigh, I sat down and listened to the screams of the Banette as Azrael made short work of it.

When the shrieks died down, Azrael returned to me and sat down beside me with a huff. I looked up to him and gave a small chuckle. "Guess we'll have to try something else, then. I also guess we should go rein in Saraph."

Azrael huffed again and took off into the sky to retrieve the rogue dragon. I waited for him to return with her while trying to think of a new way to kill it. I was a bit sad to find that a non-violent way to end the Banette's reign of terror was not able to be achieved. At least the end of winter held happier tidings than my failed attempt to get rid of the Banette.

All of the female Houndoom gave birth in the span of a week, a week and a half before I was leaving for Boot Camp. In other words, I had four days left before I had to leave when Ruby – my last Houndoom to give birth – had her litter.

Tope gave birth to four girls and three boys, Emy gave birth to two girls and a boy, and Ruby gave birth to two girls and three boys. In all, I had eight female and seven male hellpuppies. They would not need training for a couple months, and my mother would raise them while I was away at Boot Camp.

While the Houndoom were pregnant, they were less capable of training, so I dedicated most of my time to preparing my team for Boot Camp. Most of that was trying to reign in Saraph's aggressive attitude, and I was able to do so somewhat.

I also worked with Azrael to create an underground escape route of sorts in case anything bad happened in the future, such as Johto moving to attack. To do so, I installed a door behind a bookshelf in the basement which led to a small tunnel, which then led to the tunnel that Azrael had made. The top of the tunnel was about 15 feet underground, and extended a mile to the east, where it emerged in a secluded portion of forest underneath a hidden steel manhole.

Even though the threat of Johto invading was not high at that moment, I did not want to take any chances. Over the winter, a news story came out almost every week to show Hoenn moving closer and closer to a full-blown invasion until one day, two weeks before I was scheduled to leave, they finally made a move.

I was training my team when I received a message from Sheila telling me to turn on the news immediately, and that it was urgent. Curious at the time, I stopped our training to go inside the house and turn on the T.V. What it showed was airborne footage of a large Hoenn naval force storming the seas outside of the northwestern island of Sevii.

The Sevii navy, their obviously preeminent military force, engaged the Hoenn navy, and fought a fierce battle. The battle ended when the Hoenn forces strategically retreated from the warzone to regroup after suffering significant casualties. Sevii may have had a superior navy, but they sustained heavy losses as well.

The Hoenn military might not have made significant progress in taking any territories, but it was the first blatant act of war that became the impetus for declarations of war by both Hoenn and Sevii. So, by the time I left for Boot Camp, the Sevii-Hoenn War was underway.

The distant, yet serious situation far to the Southwest seemed to dwarf all of Kanto's problems. The news of the Hannotate mercenaries' cruelty and petty crime seemed to fade in comparison. But even though it seemed that way, Kanto's problems would be far more important to me in the near future.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"FALL IN, MAGGOTS!" A tall, burly man wearing camo fatigues yelled. Two crashes of thunder split the air as a Machamp, standing behind him, smashed both sets of its fists together. The Machamp was eight feet tall, and it looked like a 450lb bodybuilder with two sets of arms, though it probably weighed at least double that due to the density of its muscles.

If the Drill Sergeant's shrill voice did not catch one's attention, those loud crashes from his pokemon's fists certainly did. Everyone in the vicinity ran to take their place in two separate, parallel lines fifteen feet from each other. "I am Major Sergeant Frederick Boons, your senior drill instructor! From now on you will speak only when spoken to, the first and last words out of your Muk-spitters being 'Sir'. Do you understand!?"

A resonating **Sir, yes, sir!** rang out in the dirt-covered field in which 20 green-clad, clean shaven, and freshly buzzed recruits, myself included, stood about five feet next to each other. I made an attempt to answer forcefully to Drill Sergeant Boons' question, but I did not avert my gaze from directly in front of me, opposite of the recruit in the other line.

Drill Sergeant Boons made long paces between the two lines, looking each recruit in the eye as he moved. "Bullshit! I can't hear you!"

"SIR, YES, SIR!" we yelled even louder.

"Right now, you are Weedle! If you survive recruit training, if you do not quit, you will be Beedrill, a weapon for the Indigo Ranger Corps!" Drill Sergeant Boons pointed to the green flag nearby emblazoned with the round Beedrill emblem with its drills crossed over its head – the Ranger Corps emblem. "Your purpose will be to protect the people of this nation from the wild monsters outside of our cities, and to fight those inside! But until that day, you are shit-eating maggots! You are lower than the most mentally retarded Bidoof! You are not fucking human! You will not like me! The more you hate me, the more you better learn! I will toughen you until you are hardened soldiers! Because my job is to weed out the weak; the would-be servicemen to this great country! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, MAGGOTS!?"

**SIR, YES, SIR!** we yelled once more.

"GOOD!" he yelled. Then he started picking out recruits at random. "What's your name, scumbag!?" he yelled at a tall, skinny boy about my age.

"Private Marty Falks, Sir!" he responded.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" screamed the Drill Sergeant. "Are you deaf, scumbag!?"

"Sir, no, sir!" replied Marty.

"Oh really? So are you saying that I did not order you to say 'Sir' before you answer?" Drill Sergeant Boons asked, giving Marty death's stare.

"Sir, no, sir!" Marty replied.

"Ohhh! Then you purposefully defied an order!" shouted the drill sergeant.

"Sir, no, sir!" Marty cried.

"Are you dumb, Marty?" he asked, two inches from Marty's nose.

"Sir, yes, sir!" he replied, obviously rattled.

"That's a problem, recruit! My beloved Ranger Corps has no use for stupid soldiers! You better get your head out of your ass, or I'll roll you out of my camp!" he yelled in finality, then moved on to another recruit with Marty shouting his affirmative behind him.

"Who are you and where are you from, maggot!?" Drill Sergeant Boons yelled.

"Sir, Private Buck Dodson. I'm from Kob City, sir!" replied a shorter but heavier looking man.

"Buck, that's a redneck Flaaffy-fucking name! Do you like animal ass?" Drill Sergeant Boons asked, right in Buck's face.

"Sir, no, sir!" Buck yelled.

"Do you give 'em perdy names like 'Margaret' before you get your corn ground!?" the drill sergeant yelled.

"Sir, no, sir!" was the response.

"Bull shit! I bet your genes are half-cattle!" Drill Sergeant Boons yelled in his face. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Buck, but the only cattle you'll be seeing here is mashed up in your supper, and you're not putting your flea-bitten cock in that!" The drill sergeant moved on, leaving Buck shaken behind him, and yelled at three more people, never running out of new insults to sling.

I was not one of those unlucky few. When he finished, he yelled, "The Ranger Corps is not a place for pansies or whiners! It is a militarized policing and armed force of the Indigo government! You are expected to serve should your country need you! Your weapons are not firearms! Your weapons are yourselves and your pokemon! You will be taught to use your pokemon as such! Anyone who doesn't give any less than 150% effort I will personally fuck up! AM I CLEAR!?"

**SIR, YES, SIR!**

"Outstanding! Now get your asses moving!"

The Machamp roared and took off down the dirt path, leading us. Drill Sergeant Boons ran alongside us around the perimeter of the camp, which was situated on a large island off the southeastern coast of Kanto.

Later that day, I started to get to know more about my fellow compatriots. The two recruits stationed next to my bed were named Marcus and Vince. The others were named Seth, Albert, Barney, Thomas B, Thomas F, Fuller, Glenn, Tony, Rudy, Karl, Phil, Buck, George, Garey, Marty, John, Will, and Robert.

Of all the male recruits, two including myself had actually finished the Pokemon League. Twelve others had between five and seven badges. Three others had four badges, two had three badges, and one person had only two badges. Our ages ranged between 16 and 34, most of us being in our early twenties. I was a little younger than the average, being 19, but I had a better record than anyone else.

My neighboring mate Marcus was 24 years old, had six badges, was from Celadon City, and had a very brazen personality. My other neighboring mate Vince was 19 years old, had five badges, was from Saffron City, and had a more introverted personality like mine.

Many of the younger trainers knew who I was, but the majority of them did not immediately approach me. Most of the recruits were reluctant to begin even talking to everyone else, but a key few of them were not comfortable with the awkward silence, so they initiated some interaction. These few were Marcus, Glenn, and Thomas B, and they were very enthusiastic.

"Yo, Zachariah!" Glenn called from the other side of the barracks. "They say you're supposed to be some badass; that you're a junior champ going to the Indigo Conference next year."

At the sound of my name, I turned to see Glenn, a 20 year-old tan-skinned recruit with one leg up on his bed, looking at me expectantly. "Um… Who's 'they'?" I asked awkwardly, while I organized my living quarters.

"Better watch it, he's dangerous," Marcus yelled to Glenn, seemingly ignoring my response. "He's got a dragon."

"Two, actually," Fuller yelled from across the room.

"Well they won't be helping you for a while, champ!" Glenn responded.

"I don't need their help to survive here," I quipped.

"Woohoo! Looks like he's got a bark," Marcus said excitedly, amongst other recruits' verbal taunting.

"But can he bite?" Glenn asked, walking over from his bed.

When Glenn got close enough, I faced him and said, "When I have to." He was a couple inches taller than me and looked like he exercised frequently.

Glenn flashed a smile and said, "Well we'll see about that. I gotchu first in the ring, champ."

"Bring it on," I responded, not returning the smile.

"Lighten up, champ," Marcus called from his bed next to mine. "We're on the same side, right? Unless you think you're better than everyone."

"Better in what way?" I asked. "If you're talking about the ability of me and my pokemon, well then… Your words; not mine."

"This guy's just lookin' to get his ass kicked," Glenn said, crossing his arms.

"Like I said, bring it on," I repeated, putting my hands on my hips.

Glenn took a step towards me, letting his arms unfold, but Vince stepped over and put an arm between us. "C'mon, save it for the pit. The _Boons Madness_ will punish all of us if you both get in to it."

"Boons Madness? Ha! Good one!" Marcus commented.

Laughter rang out throughout the barracks. A smile even crept across Glenn's face before he backed up and said, "Yeah, best not to bring the, uh, _Boons Madness. _I'll see you in the ring, champ." Then he returned to organizing his belongings.

I heard a couple chuckles around me, and Vince sent me a look that said, "Dude, why so serious?" before getting back to his own things.

"So, Zachariah, how'd you get that scar?" Marcus asked, looking at me from his bed.

"Tripped and fell on a rake," I said humorously.

"Ha ha," Marcus said sarcastically. "It's cool, rakes are notoriously dangerous killers."

That elicited several chuckles, but our conversation was cut short with the sound of the Boons Madness entering the barracks to take us to our next orientation meeting.

Our pokemon were left in storage for the first two weeks of Boot Camp. During that time, we awoke every morning to trumpets sounding at 0500 sharp, and were required to be dressed and standing in formation outside of the barracks by 0515. If a recruit was not standing in formation at 0515, there were consequences.

Once we were all in formation, we would immediately start with 100 jumping jacks, 50 pushups, and 100 sit-ups at 0516. Then we would jog a paced two miles, gradually increasing the distance every week thereafter.

On the first morning of Boot Camp, after a full day of orientation, I was dressed and standing in line at 0515, waiting with 14 others for those who were late to show up. Drill Sergeant Boons stood in front of us, cheerily whistling the tune of Reveille.

When the five recruits shuffled out one to two minutes late, the drill sergeant yelled, "Well, look what we have here! Apparently some of us think this is a resort! Maybe I haven't been clear. Or maybe this camp just feels too much like a resort! I've been going too easy on you! Our little jog just went from three miles to eight miles, one for each little shit-eating Weedle that crawled out of the barracks late! And you can expect the same outcome from here on out!"

If we were not afraid of further punishment, there probably would have been a collective groan. But there were angry glares directed at the late arrivals. We were silent, aside from the compulsory, **SIR, YES, SIR!** We quickly learned to dress efficiently and to get out of bed without delay after the first couple days. Three recruits were late the next morning, and then only one was late on the third day.

"On your asses!" the drills sergeant yelled. We dropped to the ground and started to perform sit-ups to the tempo of the Machamp's clapping. "This is day two of camp, maggots!" continued Drill Sergeant Boons. "One down, 91 to go! During the next three months, you will all be evaluated! Those who perform well will be promoted to Private First Class. The top two recruits will have the honor of an additional promotion to Corporal and their choice of service location!"

After our morning jog, we showered quickly and quietly and then met in the mess hall for breakfast where we were given a specific amount of food to eat, regardless of how hungry we were. Unlike the conventional military, the Ranger Corps separated women from men during basic training. At our camp there were two sets of barracks – one for men and one for women, and both were at their capacity of 20 recruits. The only time the two teams interacted was during meals, training operations and exercises – with the exception of the morning calisthenics – and during downtime, which was very rare.

After breakfast, the activity differed on most days. Sometimes it was hand-to-hand combat. Other times it was organizational and tactical drills, or the obstacle course. With hand-to-hand combat, we would train for two to three hours with physical fitness worked in, including pushups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, planks, and squats. The actual combat would either be self-defense drills or full-on padded brawls.

With organizational and tactical drills, we learned to march in formation, respond to non-spoken commands, and conduct basic maneuvers as a unit. And with obstacle courses, we simply had to traverse elaborate structures made of wood, metal, and rope to reach the end or a high point.

Afterwards, we would take a ten-minute break before meeting up for the next activity, which was usually something less intense. Mostly, this was classroom instruction. We learned about the core values of the Ranger Core which were Honor, Selfless Service, Bravery, Integrity, Duty, and Loyalty. We were each given a manual of the known pokemon types, illustrated and marked with physical weak spots and shortcomings. We were taught about Ranger work, defensive tactics against pokemon swarms, and interpersonal confrontational protocol.

As a form of introductory hazing, Drill Sergeant Boons made us brawl on the very first full day of Boot Camp. When we lined up in formation near the women's formation, both the men's and the female's drill sergeants yelled, "Listen up, maggots! Today we will be instilling a little fight into your cowardly husks. This is the ring! Here you will gear up and beat the shit out of each other. If I'm not thoroughly entertained, the rest of you watching will be doing PT! How does that sound, good?"

**SIR, YES, SIR!**

"Outstanding! Do we have any volunteers!?" the drill sergeant yelled.

Upon seeing Glenn step forward, I did so as well. "Well, now, looks like we have some no-good shit-eating would-be heroes! Show me what you got, maggots! Gear up!" Drill Sergeant Boons ordered.

"Sir, yes, sir!" I yelled and ran to the padded suit. I promptly donned the gear, including stomach, chest, shoulders, arms, fists, and head protection, and then I picked up the double-sided padded-club. From there, I stood in the middle of a painted white line ring in the grass. Glenn donned his gear as fast as I, eager for a piece of me.

We stood in front of each other, waiting for the signal to start. "Well, what the fuck are you lazy shit-eaters waiting for!?" the drill sergeant yelled. "GO! Everyone else on their faces!"

Glenn moved first, fast but not very agile. He put a lot of his weight behind his first swing of his club, but I sidestepped and started wailing on him with my padded club. He quickly pushed me away, using his heavier build to send me back a few feet. Then he followed up with several hits, bludgeoning me effectively while I tried to hit back at the same time. I pushed him away, but he recovered quickly and returned to his punishment.

I was only able to unleash a fraction of the blows that Glenn was unloading on me, which was frustrating. He was physically bigger and stronger, it seemed. Not only that, but my agility was breaking down as I became more fatigued, and I was able to deflect or dodge less and less. We kept on hitting each other and shoving each other back and forth until Glenn started overtaking me in stamina.

Glenn pushed me closer and closer to the edge of the arena until my frustration turned into a momentary burst of adrenaline-fueled anger. I quickly planted my feet, lowered myself slightly, and surged into Glenn from a lowered angle. My club hit him in the stomach and I drove upwards, picking him up fully from the ground and throwing him onto his back five feet away near the middle of the ring.

Glenn was back on his feet without any hesitation, but Drill Sergeant Boons interceded. "Outstanding work, maggots! Get back in line and let some other recruits beat the shit out of each other. Any other volunteers? No? You, you, in the ring!" our drill sergeant ordered, pointing at Garey and Thomas F.

Garey seemed familiar to me, but I could not remember why. As he and Thomas started fighting, I noticed many of the recruits stealing glances at me and Glenn, who had his arms crossed and was avoiding my gaze. After everyone had had a fight, we finished.

Lunch was next, again with apportioned servings of carbohydrates, proteins, and nutrients. Then followed more drills, more physical training, teamwork building exercises, and barracks protocol education dealing with storage, cleanliness, and chores. At 1800 hours, we would eat dinner, and then we were expected to be in bed, quiet, and resting by 2100 hours. Most of the time, no one had a problem meeting curfew because everyone was exhausted by the end of the day.

Before dinner on the second day, I drew a lot of attention in the men's communal showers. I had more scars than anyone else, and they were not easy to miss. The acid burn on my left inner thigh, the razor leaf cut on my left triceps, the burned and scarred circle where I was impaled by the Tauros on my right inner thigh, the burnt handprint on my wrist, the three scars across my left calf, the latticework of scars across my face and chest, and the scar on my stomach where I had been shot by a crossbow bolt were a sight to behold.

Thomas B. was the one to say, "Wow, if I ever got run over by a lawnmower, I'd expect to look like that!" eliciting a barrage of laughter from the rest of the recruits.

"Seriously, how did you manage to get those?" Marcus asked from nearby, gesturing to my Luxray memories.

"The rake was especially vicious," I said good-humoredly.

"C'mon! Tell us," he and a few others pressed.

Finally, with a little hesitation and an attempt to hide the visions of the lion in my mind, I said with feigned gusto, "I wrestled a Luxray. You think this is bad, you should see the Luxray!"

The others seemed to take to my gusto, laughing and carrying on despite the obvious insincerity behind my words. Even Glenn seemed to take to my good spirits. The only one who seemed to give off a sense of sympathy was Vince. I caught his gaze linger on the arrow wound on my stomach.

From somewhere in the showers I heard someone say, "So Garey here tells me that he fought the champ in Juniors." Then it clicked. Garey was the trainer at the JIC with the Onix, Electabuzz, and Magmar.

"Well he obviously didn't do so hot, now did he?" commented Marcus with a laugh. A few others followed suit.

"You think you can take him again?" shouted Thomas B.

I said with a cocky laugh, "Send the Champion. I'll take him!"

A couple of sarcastic laughs rang out and the banter continued, not always directed at me. After our shower, Glenn stopped me in the middle of the barracks and said, "Looks like you have some bite to back up your bark." Then he held out his hand for me to shake.

I took his hand firmly and he lightly shoved me back a little. "But we all know who won that fight!" he yelled, obviously referring to himself.

"Sure," I said sarcastically. "Who was on their back?"

"Your mom was last night!" Glenn called out, prompting a few laughs and some "ooh's"

"Ha. Ha," I said sarcastically. "If you need any help in the ring, I'd be glad to give you some lessons." More "ooh's" rang out.

"Keep talking, champ," Glenn called out, resentful but not in ill. People lightened up more when I showed them I was human by engaging with the senseless banter. I went from pretentious unapproachable champ to cocky champ, and that was enough to earn respect from my brothers in arms.

Over the course of the next three months, Drill Sergeant Boons found imperfections in everyone, and made those imperfections known. Every one of us had physical shortcomings in the beginning. They were made known through the various physical training drills that we were put through, and immediately criticized.

It did not matter if one of us was performing well. Drill Sergeant Boons picked no favorites and treated us all equally – like pieces of crap that needed to be scraped off the bottom of his boot. I quickly distinguished myself as the most athletically gifted recruit, at least in most activities. Two years of physical training alongside my pokemon multiple times nearly every single day had paid off. However, I was not perfect.

I, and the drill sergeant to my dismay, found that while my short-distance stamina, speed, agility, and strength were superb, my long-term stamina was lacking. I may not have been trailing the majority of the unit in distances exceeding two miles, but I certainly was not in the front.

"Pick up the pace, you ugly fucking scar-head!" I would frequently hear after about the three-mile mark in any given jog. "You aren't going soft on me, are you!? You run like old people fuck! If you could run faster, you might have been able to outrun the palsied granny who gave you such an ugly face!" No holds were barred.

"Sir, no, sir," I heaved in response. I managed to at least keep up with the main group, but when I led the groups in completing the obstacle courses and the short distance sprints, any lapse in performance was met with extreme criticism.

Drill Sergeant Boons was relentless. That is probably why George and Marty had quit by the end of the first week. Everyone else managed to pull through until the end, but plenty of people contemplated ridding themselves of the Boons Madness, as we came to lovingly call our drill sergeant, by leaving. The female squad did not have it much better; three of their recruits quit by the end of Boot Camp.

The first week was a grueling string of physical training, drilling, and teamwork building. The second week was a continuation of the first, except for the advent of weapons training. We did not use firearms, but we did use archery. And archery was just one other skill that I excelled in. Unsurprisingly, most of the recruits had learned to use a bow at some point in their travels, so most of us excelled in these training sessions. There were two recruits who had never used a bow before, and their training was that much more difficult as a result.

At the beginning of Boot Camp, we were given the option of the type of bow we could use once archery training started, and that decision guided our entire weapons training. By the second week, new bows were shipped in and we were given them to own. We were given two choices: tactical crossbow or compound bow.

I chose the compound bow. At the beginning of the second week, I was given my new bow. It was black, three feet from axle to axle, weighed 4.5lbs, had a fixed sight, and had a 60lb draw. I was given a shoulder bandolier with magnetic docks for six pokeballs, pockets for ten arrows shells, and a pouch for spares. Finally, I was given fifteen extendable arrow shells. The material from which my weapon and ammo were made was higher in quality than my previous bow, and it could collapse and fit on bandolier on my back.

I thought my accuracy was good before, but the bow's sight made it much easier to aim, and the arrows hit with much more power. My range improved, and by the end of Boot Camp, my ability to hit moving targets while moving myself had improved greatly.

Once the beginning of the third week rolled around, we attended a meeting where the next phase of Boot Camp was explained. The next phase was the inclusion of our pokemon and the separation of the squad into four fireteams. During the past two weeks, we had all been evaluated based on our performance in the various drills, physical tests, and classroom tests. Those with the highest marks were given leadership over a fireteam; the idea was that the fireteam captains should lead by example.

The fireteams were thus assigned: Fireteam Alpha – C. Zachariah, Vince, Marcus, Garey, and Will. Fireteam Beta – C. Seth, Thomas B., Fuller, Tony, and John. Fireteam Gamma – C. Glenn, Rudy, Buck, Phil, and Albert. Fireteam Delta – C. Karl, Robert, Barney, and Thomas F.

My appointment to a fireteam captain position came as no surprise. My work ethic had served me well over the years, and had prepared me for the challenges I had faced in Boot Camp thus far. Those on my team were a mix of skill levels. Marcus had six badges, Vince had five badges, Garey had six badges, and Will had four badges. Each of us had a full team of six pokemon except for Will.

Everyone on each fireteam was tasked with getting to know each of the others' pokemon teams, and we were given a day to do it. As fireteam captain, I led my team out of the camp proper until we were hidden in the woods. There I addressed them.

"Hi everyone. So we've got today to learn about each other's teams. I think it'd be best if we all release our starters and give a few words about their strengths and weaknesses," I said, unclasping the Greatball from its metallic dock. A murmur of agreement passed through my team as they followed suit. A moment later, red flashes lit up the area as we released our pokemon.

"This," I gestured to Azrael, whose intimidating hulking figure was only surpassed by his bellow upon release, "is Azrael." The other fireteam members' pokemon recoiled aggressively, but they were reigned in, so I continued. "He's a Garchomp. As far as his strengths, he is tough and his ground-type moves are first-rate, especially with the Bulldoze move. He is not as acrobatic or maneuverable as most other pokemon, but he makes up for it with his ferocity and size. And, uh, don't look him in the eye," I added, noting how Will and Garey averted their gaze. Then I addressed Azrael.

"Azrael, these are our new team members. We will be working with them for the next two and a half months, so behave," I told him. He only huffed in response and laid down behind me.

"Damn, bro. I heard stories and watched your JIC finals match, but…. Damn," Marcus commented, looking up at Azrael. "Well this," he said, motioning to a hulking Blastoise behind him, "is Snapjaw. He's a badass Blastoise. He has a mean hydro pump and his shell is nigh impenetrable. He's a bit slow though, and when he withdraws into his shell, he can't hear what I say."

I nodded to the great snapping turtle pokemon. Next followed Vince, who motioned to the humanoid treelike pokemon with a white mane behind him. "This is Jade. She is a Shiftry, so dark and grass types. She is stealthy and hits hard, but she's not very durable and her nose is very sensitive."

Once more, I acknowledged the new introduction. Next followed Garey. "This is Nitro," he said, motioning behind him. "He is a Magmar, his fire is ridiculously strong and he is fairly fast. He is little difficult to be around though, since his body heat is way too hot. He also can't fine-tune his attacks because he has so much heat built up inside."

I remembered the Magmar. I never had the opportunity to see the full extent of its capabilities since Ceto had made such short work of it, but I had no doubt that it was as volatile as Garey made it out to be.

Lastly, Will said, "This is Borg. He's a Primeape. He is fast, agile, and packs a nasty punch. But he gets pissed very easily and goes berserk. Makes it difficult to give him direction." The furry monkey-like pokemon stood almost four feet tall and its fists were large.

From there we proceeded to introduce the remainders of our teams. After we finished, we held mock fights so that everyone could get a sense of how each recruit battled, and how each of their pokemon fared. My pokemon were more than 15 levels higher than the highest-leveled pokemon from the other recruits in my fireteam, so it was difficult for the others to contend with them.

As the fireteam captain, I thought about the potential training challenges that we would need to overcome. Thinking back to the training that I went through with Aoro, I needed to gain a sense of the specialties of our pokemon in the interest of completing operations.

Stealth, flying, brute strength, support, and flexibility were all specialties that could be taken advantage of in an operation. Looking at my fireteam's pokemon, I could see that we had every specialty that we needed to succeed, even if the skill level of the pokemon was not very high.

After that first day, we were each given an upgrade to our PokeDexes which added on to our database of pokemon species. It added in the species' strengths and weaknesses, the best method of killing them, and the best weapons with which to do so. It was very detailed with anatomical diagrams and interactive software.

As captain of my fireteam, I was given some authority over my unit. During downtime, I had them memorize information on common pokemon from Kanto in the updated pokemon database. I wanted them to be prepared for any challenge that the Boons Madness could think of. I extended my work ethic to my fireteam, and even though there was frequent bickering about it, no one actually defied my orders.

For example, I knew that Will struggled on rope climbs, Garey was moderately afraid of heights, and Vince was not as physically strong as the rest of us, resulting in him struggling with many of the activities. So, I personally saw to it that we worked on those shortcomings immediately in our down time. The downside of portraying a sense of urgency was that my team thought that I was just overzealous and unrealistic.

It paid off, however, for we were prepared for most of our challenges. Our first success, which brought Fireteam Alpha closer as a group and solidified my leadership, was a simple team obstacle course race between us and Fireteam Delta.

It was only a few days after the assignment of the fireteams. We had been given no warning about the competition, but I had worked with my team mates on their individual shortcomings in the preceding days. A few hours after we finished lunch, we reported to the obstacle course at the order of the Drill Sergeant Boons.

"Listen up, maggots! Today is the first day of competitions between fireteams. The fireteam with the fastest time will be able to skip this afternoon's PT. Alpha and Delta, you're up!"

"Let's do this!" I exclaimed, and brought my team to the front of the course. The obstacles in the course were large enough that multiple teams could participate at the same time, and while Fireteams Alpha and Delta competed, Beta and Gamma watched and waited for their turn.

The first obstacle was a set of 30 pushups and 50 sit-ups, which everyone needed to accomplish before the fireteam could move on. Marcus and I finished around the same time, and then we immediately began to pace the others, focusing mainly on Vince. Will and Garey finished about ten seconds after that, and Vince finished another five seconds after that.

We finished with a great ten-second start over Fireteam Delta. From there, we moved onto the next obstacle, which was two large horizontal logs that we needed to climb over. One was five feet off the ground and the other was ten feet off the ground.

For this obstacle and all remaining, we as a team supported and assisted those who needed it most. On this obstacle, Marcus and I quickly made it to the second log ahead of the other three who helped each other onto the first. From there, Vince hopped to the second while Marcus and I helped to catch, stabilize, and pull him down to the other side. Garey and Will quickly followed, keeping our lead over Delta.

The next obstacle was a 50ft crawl under barbed wire with a 12ft wall on the other side. During our crawl through the dirt, I yelled, "When we get out, Garey and I brace for Will, Marcus brace for Vince. Garey's up next, then Marcus, then me!" I chose Vince and Will to go up first because they were the smallest and lightest members of Fireteam Alpha.

Marcus and I were the first to enter the crawl, followed by Vince, followed by the other two. Marcus and I quickly took our positions in front of the wall. When Vince came out, he stood next to Marcus, waiting for Garey and Will to exit the crawl.

As soon as they ran over to us, Marcus gave Vince a leg up the wall, and he straddled the top upon reaching it. Garey and I flung Will upwards shortly after, and he straddled the wall as well. Then, Marcus and I flung Garey up, receiving help from Vince and Will at the top.

Next, I gave Marcus a leg up, and with the help of our teammates at the top, he was pulled over. After throwing Marcus, I ran about ten feet away and turned around to face the wall. I ran and jumped, taking a few steps up the wall to grab the arms of Marcus and Garey. We all jumped down to the other side, increasing our lead over Delta.

Next came the 35ft confidence climb, with large rungs varying between 2.5 feet and 3.5 feet above one another. This was a real challenge for Garey, and I'll admit, myself. The height of the obstacle coupled with limited handholds made me very nervous. The same could be said for the majority of the recruits since it was made to build confidence, hence the name.

We carefully made our way up, though I waited at the top for Garey, who slowed down the higher he climbed. Will also waited with me to help Garey over the top and begin his descent. I may have been in better shape than the two of them, but Will beat me to the bottom; he was kind of like a Mankey, except when it came to ropes.

The next obstacle was the second to last, and it was a 40ft-tall wall with four ropes hanging from the top about eight feet from the ground; two for each team. Furthermore, the main piece of the wall started twenty feet from the ground, making us need to free-climb 12 feet before we could use the wall as support. As a group, we ran the 20 feet to it and I instructed us on who was doing what along the way.

Marcus and I positioned ourselves under two of the ropes. Marcus hefted Will up while I hefted Vince. Garey then switched places with Marcus and hefted his teammate up to the rope while I waited for him. After Marcus grabbed the cord, Garey ran over to me and I hefted him up. Vince and Garey were moving faster up the wall with the help of the rope than Will, who was ahead of Marcus. So, I jumped up to the rope below Garey and started climbing. It took Vince about half-a-minute to get to the top.

Along the way, we shouted encouragement to Will, who used the rope-climbing hold that we had taught him. I made it to the top before Will, and we helped to pull him up once he was close enough. Marcus was strong enough to hold on for that long while encouraging Will from below. We all made it to the top just as the last member of Delta was finishing the previous hurdle.

There was a rope mesh on the back of the tower we had just climbed, so we all made our way down as a team with no problems. The last obstacle was a quarter-mile of hurdles and ditches, which we traversed together to reach the finish line over half a minute before Fireteam Delta.

We took a break thereafter to watch Beta and Gamma compete. After Gamma had beaten Beta, the times were compared and it was determined that my fireteam was the victor. My team cheered and we were dismissed while the others had to stay for PT.

Much to the dismay of my fireteam, though, I did not give them the afternoon off. I took them to a different part of the camp away from the others so that I could institute my own version of PT. It was not as punishment, though my team seemed to think so. It was to help Will and Vince build muscle. I made the rest of us work out alongside them, and then when dinner came around, I gave a portion of my protein-packed goop to Vince. Marcus quickly followed suit for Will after seeing me give up part of my meal. It was all in the interest of improving the team, after all.

As a result of our successes, my fireteam grew closer and more united behind me. Marcus was as chatty and full of banter as ever, usually making fun of other fireteams. And the rest of my fireteam, including myself, had become chattier despite our more introverted personalities.

Our pokemon seemed to get along as well. With the exception of Azrael and Gilles, all of my pokemon easily worked together with all of the others. For example, Garey's Electabuzz trained with Lazarus, Marcus had a Weavile who trained its dark-type skills with Rufus and Jade (though Rufus' were far superior), Ceto worked well with Snapjaw, and Dante kept Borg in check.

My team differed significantly from everyone else's because no one in either squad had a dragon, and only one other recruit in the female squad had a ghost pokemon. It gave us an advantage over the other teams in some situations and for some tests.

The tests that we were subjected to were many and diverse. They included written tests about which pokemon to use in what situation and for what reason given a set choice. They included field tests in which we needed, for example, to retrieve targets from turbulent weather and dangerous waters using the correct pokemon from our repertoire, work through cave-in scenarios, and manage larger-scale operations against hordes of pokemon.

The hordes of pokemon were provided by the Ranger Corps, and they were released on the island for the recruits to learn to bring under control. Sometimes we had to deal with swarms of birds and other times we had to deal with stampedes. Sometimes the Boons Madness woke us up in the middle of the night with no warning to participate in surprise night ops. Other times, we needed to work together to bring down a much stronger foe, which was often a pokemon lent to the Corps by the Elites or was a seasoned Ace pokemon.

We were all observed and evaluated based on how fast we completed the operation, whether or not there were any injuries (pokemon or otherwise), how well we worked as a team, and the decisions we made as well as the reasons therein.

Outside of our individual fireteams, we were directed in pokemon battles against each other and the female squad. We were monitored during pokemon training exercises so that they did not accidentally kill one another in practicing lethal combat.

Then we began inter-fireteam competitions such as brawls and games. The brawls were simply large-scale pokemon battles. The games included Capture the Flag, retrieval missions, attack and defend, and more competitive obstacle courses where teams would try to reach a goal point before the others. Throughout Boot Camp, we were all evaluated meticulously, and there were leadership changes multiple times within other fireteams because of incompetent leadership.

We and our pokemon grew stronger and more adept with tactical skills. For example, Rufus, Jade, and Marcus's Weavile were heavily trained in using dark anti-psychic bubbles, which were named Blackouts by the training Sergeants. Our psychic pokemon were also trained to sense and recognize teleportation by other psychics in their vicinity.

As Boot Camp was nearing its end, each team was given a ranking, and that ranking placed them in a tournament bracket. Both the male and the female squad gave the bracket a total of eight teams. Those teams vied for top standing in the tournament, because at least one of the promotions to Corporal would be chosen from the winning team.

The game chosen for the tournament was Capture the Flag. The first team to invade the other's base, take their flag, and return it to their base while keeping their own flag safe therein would win the match. Recruits and pokemon participated. The recruits used blunted tips on their bows or crossbows, aiming for weak points that were discussed in our PokeDex update. The match was refereed discreetly by the Drill Sergeant's psychic and dark type pokemon.

There were rules by which we needed to abide, and one was not being able to teleport over 20 feet at a time except to the top of a tower when within a ten foot radius of it. Another was that teams were not allowed to watch the other matches; the point was that we would not know what we would be up against in many scenarios. Teams could not move their own flags unless they were returning it to their own base, bases were not allowed to be destroyed, and once people were taken out, they could not use their intercoms. We also could not use moves that were destructive enough to possibly cause death, including hyper beams, some dragon moves, etc.

For equipment, we were given headgear, which included a mic and an earbud. However, I found that psychic pokemon could communicate better in more diverse situations. We were given two 15ft lengths of thin black rope to share amongst ourselves. Everyone was given their own flashlight, knife, and small camera that attached to our bandoliers.

With unmasked satisfaction, my team was given the first seed. The second seed was male Gamma, third seed was female Beta, fourth was female Delta, fifth was male Beta, sixth was female Alpha, seventh was female Gamma, and last was male Delta.

For the most part, the results of the tournament followed the seeds. There was only one upset, and it was a major upset. My team easily won its first match against the eighth seed, and then we won our second match with a little more difficulty against the fourth seed. On the other side of the bracket, the third seed upset the second seed with a close win during the second match. The last game was between my fireteam and the female Beta Fireteam.

It took place a week before the end of Boot Camp on the southeastern coast of the island and in a rectangular area of about two square miles. The bases were 60ft wooden towers with rungs like the confidence climb leading to a 30ft by 30ft platform at the top. The bases were located at the edges of the game area, two miles apart, and each about a quarter-mile from the coast.

We arrived thirty minutes before the game started to get the lay of the land and to formulate a strategy. Five minutes before the game began, we were told through our telecoms to report to the top of our respective towers. The game began about an hour before dusk with the order to begin given by the Boons Madness. Our earbuds rang out in unison, "Give a good show, maggots! BEGIN!"

Everyone took action on my command. Each of our water pokemon (each of us had one) took off to the coast and spread out, guided by Vince's Meditite who would keep us informed about activity on the beach. Garey went underground with his Steelix, whom I had fought as an unevolved Onix at the JIC, and was accompanied by Marcus's Rhyhorn and Will's Graveler. Will followed me on foot, though my plan was to stop after a mile. I had both Electabuzz and Garey's Scyther.

Marcus stayed at our base, accompanied by Azrael who was underground, Marcus's Weavile who stayed at the top blacked out to prevent pokemon from teleporting to the top, his Hypno, and Will's Raichu. Lastly, Vince was the essential part of our plan. He was taking a slightly longer route around on foot since he was the smallest, fastest, and had a lot of stamina. He had Jade with him to keep him blacked out, Garey's Kadabra to help him communicate with his prepared distraction and to reach the flag quickly once he arrived, and his Pidgeotto for a speedy retreat.

All of us kept the majority of our pokemon in their balls until they were needed in order to remain stealthy. Not even five minutes into the match, I heard the sound of Marcus's Hypno speaking in my mind. _Three flyers heading this way. One much faster than the others. _

I looked up, and since it was not dusk yet, I could easily see the massive Pidgeot speeding straight towards our base. I immediately relayed the message to my team with my mic. Whoever it was was trying to end the match quickly instead of drawing it out. Luckily for me, I had two very capable electric pokemon with me. I released Lazarus and Garey's Electabuzz and ordered them to strike down the Pidgeot. Then I released Gilles and told him to hypnotize the next flyer, and then to go after the Pidgeot. The two Electabuzz grabbed each other's hands and lit up like lightbulbs before sending two powerful bolts of lightning at the Pidgeot.

The massive bird looked like it saw the attack coming, but was only fast enough to dodge one of them. The other bolt hit the great bird and it changed course away from us. "Again!" I ordered, and the two electric felines sent out two more bolts of lightning, hitting once more. The Pidgeot still managed to remain aloft though it was descending in the distance. In the meantime, Gilles managed to hypnotize a Pidgeotto midflight, causing it to drop.

"Someone's watching us," I told Will. I looked around and saw a red dot peering at us from a long distance. Once I locked my eyes on it, it disappeared. "Gilles! Get down here!" I yelled. "Will, I think it's their ghost," I told my companion, and then released Rufus.

I told Rufus to stay with me. The Pidgeotto who was falling regained consciousness just before it hit the tops of the trees, and slowed down enough to land softly. By that time, Will and I had run to intercept it. An Arcanine and a Machoke appeared on the ground as it landed, but Will and I sent two pokemon each after them. Rufus and Borg went after the Arcanine while the Scyther and Will's Arbok went after the Machoke. While that was happening, I gave Will a signal.

We both raised our bows, each with a different target. Arrows flew at the same time - Will's hitting the Pidgeotto at the base of its neck and mine hitting the female rider in the middle of her chest. Rufus and Borg worked together to land a "fatal hit," which consisted of Rufus clamping down on the Arcanine's throat while the Arbok wrapped the Machoke, leaving it open for the Scyther to put its blade at the Machoke's neck.

"One enemy down," I said over the radio. "And two pokemon as well."

Just then, Marcus's voice sounded from my earbud. "Incoming at the base - a Fearow and a… Pidgeot!"

"Use Raichu to hit the Pidgeot, keep shielded, and shoot down the other," I told him, and he affirmed my command. "Let's go," I told Will, and we took off towards the enemy's base once again.

Not long after that, I heard the Meditite's voice in my head telling me that the coast was under siege about a mile down the shore. _There are about as many as us, but there is a trainer with them. And they have a sea wyrm. _

"The coast is getting some heat. Will, head between the coast and our base for backup. Be cautious, there is a Gyarados," I said over the intercom.

"Roger that," Will replied, and he split off from me.

A second later, Marcus spoke again, saying, "The Pidgeot has redirected and I took out the Pidgeotto. There will be two enemy units here."

"Change of plans," I said on the intercom. "Will, back up Marcus from a distance so that he appears to be alone." Then I released Dante and told him to tell the Meditite to order all of our water pokemon to fall back and regroup so that they can take go after individual targets.

By that point, Garey had to be in position. Our intercom had trouble working underground so he had no way of letting us know. But I knew that his pokemon were fast, so he must have been there by then. Vince probably could make it there in ten minutes.

"I see a downed enemy unit," came Will's voice. "I'm taking her out."

Three seconds passed and the intercom flared again. "Shit! She has a psychic with her. Blocked the shot. Falling back."

"Roger that," I replied.

A minute or so passed, during which time I made my way further toward the midpoint. _J'Kun, the other on the shore tells me that the enemies there are following but not engaging._

"Thanks, Dante. Noted."

"I have a visual of the other!" Marcus yelled over the intercom. "She's riding a Rapidash!"

"Dante, signal Azrael!" I told my Gallade.

A roar split the relative silence where I stood. About ten seconds passed. "Status!" I called through the intercom.

"Marcus is down!" Will called. "The girl and her Rapidash are down as well. Wait! Shit! Our flag is gone!"

I cursed and told Dante to call Azrael to me. "It was the chick with the psychic pokemon. _huff, _I'm running after her, but she's _huff _fast!"

"Where's she headed?" I asked.

"Towards the coast _huff,_" he responded. "She took out Borg, my Arbok, and Marcus's Meganium, _huff_. She has a Kadabra, _huff, _but we took out her Gliscor and her Monferno! I'm out of pokemon, _huff, _so I'll keep chasing her."

"Dante, have Meditite direct our water pokemon to intercept," I told Dante. "And where the hell is Gilles?"

_J'Kun, I cannot reach the other. Something is interfering._

_Shit,_ I thought. "Rufus! There is an enemy nearby, find it!" Rufus melded into the shadows. "Gilles!" I called, then I spoke into the mic, "Vince, status."

"On route, _huff. _ETA seven minutes," he responded.

Cackling broke out in the vicinity, then a ghostly shriek and snarling. I looked around to see a fiery, blurry melee about 100 feet away. Within seconds, Rufus and Gilles walked away a little bit worse for the wear.

"Great job both of you. Dante, now," I said.

_They are moving inland, J'Kun. The_ _enemies are engaging,_ Dante informed me.

"Tell him to send Snapjaw and the Walrein as defense. Have Ceto rain dance, and have the other two intercept the flag carrier," I ordered.

Dante nodded and his eyes glowed green. Will's voice rang out over the intercom about fifteen seconds later. "There's rain falling ahead and the flag carrier is changing course. I'm sorry, _huff_, I can't catch her."

"Keep following her," I said over the intercom, "you will have backup shortly." Just then, the ground shook and Azrael emerged behind me. "On route," I said over comms.

I returned Dante and Rufus, then jumped onto Azrael's saddle, with which I had equipped him prior to starting the match. "Gilles, stay close. Azrael, we have a runner to catch." With a roar, Azrael took off into the sky, which was getting darker.

"Will, when you find Meditite, tell him I need a signal to find you guys," I said over comms.

"_huff, _roger that," was the reply. While I waited, I directed Azrael towards the rainclouds.

A minute or so later, I saw an image of the Meditite hovering over the treetops. "There!" I yelled, and we descended. As we did so, I saw brief flashes of color through the foliage, and the red fabric of our flag. "Gilles, take out the Kadabra!" I ordered, and he shot forward ahead of us. A few seconds later, Azrael and I crashed through the treetops and landed 25 feet ahead of the flag carrier.

She skidded to halt and moved to changed directions, but before she could, an arrow hit her in the middle of her back. Heaving, she cursed and planted the flag where she then fell to the ground exhausted.

"Flag intercepted," Will said over the intercom.

"Good work, Will," I told him, leaping out of the saddle. He was heaving as well next to the girl. She was sitting on the ground looking pissed off. "We don't have much time, Will. Take the two Electabuzz and Dante, and get the flag back to our base. I'm going to start heading to the other base to give Vince some backup. He should be getting there soon."

"Roger that," he breathed out. He kept Dante out of his ball and the others in theirs, and then took off with the flag. I then hopped back on Azrael's back, catching a glimpse of the girl giving Azrael a pouty but amazed look. Azrael jumped into the air and gathered speed, just as Vince's voice broke the radio silence.

"In position. Contacting Garey now," he said. Seconds later he said, "I'm not getting a response from him. I don't have a distraction."

"Roger, hold on a few minutes," I replied. "I'm coming in. Change of plans. Hold tight."

"Roger that," he replied.

"Gilles, when we get there, I need you to take the flag and throw it into the woods. But only do it after Azrael and I create the distraction." Gilles giggled after I finished, and fell behind us.

The enemy base loomed in the distance, so I said over intercom, "ETA two minutes. Be ready!"

As it grew closer, a bolt of lightning shot from the ground and hit Azrael in the stomach. Azrael's body absorbed most of the electricity, but I still received shock. "Keep going!" I yelled, and Azrael roared. Another bolt hit him in the stomach, but he merely shook off the hit. We reached the tower to see a blacked out globe surrounding the flag. I raised my bow and shot an arrow straight into the middle of the Blackout zone. Right as I did, though, and crossbow bolt was ejected from the zone, and hit Azrael in the shoulder, barely missing his "kill" spot.

The Blackout dissipated, leaving a girl standing with a crossbow and holding a pokeball that had just returned a pokemon. I raised my bow again, aiming at the girl, and released. She jumped out of the way after seeing my bow raised at her, and held her ground.

"Gilles, hypnotize her and take the flag! Then keep her hypnotized!" I yelled. "Azrael, circle back."

As Azrael and I passed by the tower, the girl went limp and the flag seemingly jumped off the platform of its own volition. "Flag in motion!" I called into my mic.

"On route for pickup," Vince said.

"Gilles, keep that girl hypnotized," I yelled as we circled. "Azrael, bring me close to the tower and go after the pokemon that shot at us." He growled, rumbling his affirmation.

Azrael swooped down, and I jumped from his back to the platform. I rolled towards the edge but managed to stop with the help of Gilles grabbing my arm. "Thanks Gilles," I told him, then I ran towards the girl, taking out my knife in the process. As soon as I pressed it into her neck, she shook off the hypnosis. "Checkmate," I said.

With an angry sigh, she sat down. Fighting rang out in the forest below, and no one seemed to notice the large bird sailing just over the treetops with our enemy's blue flag in the hands of its rider. "Flag taken. On route to our base."

"Hurry!" Will's voice rang out. "I'm almost to our tower. The pokemon on the coast are down. I've sent the two Electabuzz back to hold them off, but they are coming after our flag."

"Roger that," I replied. "Azrael!" I called.

Moments later, Azrael was on his way back to me. Vince was making his way as fast as he could on the back of his Pidgeotto to our base. And Will was on his way back with our flag. I was on Azrael's back and we were in the air in less than thirty seconds, but by that time, Vince was pretty far ahead. Instead of catching up to Vince, I aimed Azrael to the coast and ordered him to fly as fast as he could.

Within a minute, we passed Vince. Azrael shot like a bullet towards the area where we had intercepted the flag. My eyes watered from our increasing speed, but I saw a battle taking place about 30 feet from our tower between Will and another trainer with a Marshtomp and an Espeon. Dante was doing fine against his foes, but they had him outnumbered. "Aim for the Marshtomp," I called to Azrael. Then I said into my mic, "Will, I'm coming in. Watch out!"

Azrael roared and Will started running towards the tower. The girl he was fighting raised a bow, but froze in fear when she saw us descending at our speed. She managed to move out of the way and her Espeon teleported out as well. The Marshtomp did not. Azrael tried to slow down enough that I would not be hurt, but he still hit the water and ground pokemon with so much force that it was immediately teleported away by one of the psychic referees.

Azrael impacted the ground, but he pushed himself back up before he could roll, resulting in what must have looked like a quick hop back into the air. Our momentum carried us almost 100 feet back up before we could slow down and turn around. While we were recovering, Dante and Will reached our tower and teleported to the top, where Will returned our flag to its spot. Will then rained down a steady barrage of arrows at the remaining girl while we waited for Vince to arrive about three minutes later, whereupon he jumped off of his mount and planted the enemy flag at the top of our base.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

We stood in formation in Saffron City, clad in our dark green dress uniforms. In front of us stood a crowd of people. Amongst them were my parents and Aoro, who watched the graduation ceremony proudly. In front of our squad stood Drill Sergeant Boons, and in front of the female squad stood their drill sergeant. Before the ceremony began, Drill Sergeant Boons had addressed us one last time.

"Today you are no longer maggots. You are no longer Weedle. Today you have shown that through hard work, commitment, and perseverance, a man can achieve great things. It is no ordinary man who can survive boot camp. Many of you may have started out as ordinary men, but you are no longer. You are now Beedrill. You are soldiers ready to serve your country well. And in this, you have risen above your civilian peers to take on the noble task of acting as guardians. You are now rangers!"

Ranger Captain John Steere had first addressed the crowd and now was addressing us. "Rangers, congratulations on finishing basic training. Your class marks the 1,175th Ranger class since the establishment of the Pokemon League. Today you join a brotherhood as old and noble as the Pokemon League. Today you are now officers of the law."

There was applause and cheering from the crowd. "Rangers, during basic training, you were evaluated, and based on your performances, many of you have been awarded promotions. The following Rangers have been given a promotion to Private First Class…"

Ranger Captain Steere, amidst cheers, read off the names of ten rangers from our squad, including mine and every ranger in my fireteam, and nine rangers from the female squad. "Congratulations, rangers. Your hard work is greatly appreciated by the Ranger Corps. Now, those who distinguished themselves not only as exceptional soldiers, but also as exceptional leaders, have earned an additional promotion. Would these rangers please step forward…" he paused.

"Zachariah MacAfee, Natalie Erichson, Glenn Richmond, and Caroline Helms."

More cheering rang out in the crowd as I stepped forward, and I could not help but feel immensely proud of myself. My parents were smiling and Aoro was wearing an enormous grin. The Ranger Captain then walked to each of us, pinning an upside-down triangle to our uniforms. "You are now Corporals in the Ranger Corps. Congratulations!"

Yet even more cheering rang out. The Ranger Captain thanked the crowd for attending the ceremony and told the Corporals that we would be able to choose where we served in three days' time after the primary assignment ceremony.

On the day before I was supposed to pick my service location, I was having trouble deciding. But I received a message from Leader Katherine Holmes which made my decision very easy. It read,

_Zachariah MacAfee,_

_Salutations and congratulations on becoming a ranger and on your subsequent promotion. I am under the impression that you have been allowed to choose where you will serve. I have a proposal that you may find interesting, given you particular history in the matter. _

_Cerulean City and its neighboring cities to the south have been experiencing trouble with illegal pokemon fighting. It's nothing new to be honest, but in the last few years we have not made much progress in quelling some of the underground cells. What you may be interested in knowing is that we found another instance of illegal stimulant use last month; one whose effects you have personally witnessed. There are many different problems in the city, but my proposal is for you to serve in Cerulean City and help to bring down the illegal pokemon fighting circuits. At the same time, we might be able to use your knowledge of the stimulant to track down where it came from._

_Please think it over. I look forward to hearing your answer._

Leader Holmes' message left me with a mix of emotions. Memories of Raeda flooded my emotions with anger and sadness, but for the first time in several months, I knew exactly what I needed to do.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Expert Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979E; Corporal, Ranger Corps.**

**Active Pokemon: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

Lazarus – Electabuzz

**Pokemon in Preparation:**

Saraph – Charizard

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note: Hi everyone. Sorry it took so long to update, but life can be very distracting. Anyway, Zachariah is now a Ranger and is embarking on the next stage of his journey. I realize that I could have probably written more about boot camp, but I felt like much of it would have been superfluous. Thank you all for supporting my story thus far, and thank you all newcomers for reviewing. Please continue to do so!


	28. Chapter 28: The Ranger Corps

Chapter 28

"Congratulations to all of you!" my father said, and raised his glass of scotch. My squad and I raised our glasses in unison. We all stood in our dress uniforms in the parlor of my parents' house.

"And congrats to our fearless leader, Corporal Zachariah!" chimed in Vince. "Without him, Marcus might have made Corporal!" Laughter broke out at Marcus's expense, but he still cracked a smile.

"So, Cerulean City, huh? What are they going to be having you do there?" asked my father, his glass of scotch gently turning in his hand.

"He's gonna be some big shot in the city!" interjected Vince, who held a flute of champagne.

"Yeah, he's gonna go monitor the Cerulean Cave!" added Will, also holding a flute of champagne.

"Don't be stupid," commented Marcus. "Only those who've beaten the first two Elites can guard the Cerulean Cave." He took a sip of his champagne while leaning against a wall with a glum expression.

"Since when have you been so serious, Marcus?" asked Garey.

"Yeah, what gives?" added Vince.

"Turns out he's been assigned to the same station as me," I answered for him. "He wanted to go to Cinnabar to watch over the coast, but instead he's stuck in Cerulean City with me." I laughed and took a sip of my glass of scotch, which my father had presented to me once my small graduation party had begun.

Marcus only took a drink of his champagne and sneered. "It's probably for the best," said my father. "You don't want to be down on the coast right now with all of the Sevii refugees coming in. It's chaos if the news is anything to go by. And what's worse, some of those fanatical Triumvirates are among them."

Ever since Hoenn started their military campaign against their nautical neighbors, Sevii civilians had started to flee north to Johto and Kanto, and Cinnabar Island was the southern-most point in Kanto. Many frightened people had surged onto the island, most of whom had taken up residence in Cinnabar City. The city was not equipped to handle the influx of people, so camps were being built as temporary relief centers. But before the camps could be completed, there was a growing problem with homeless refugees on the streets of Cinnabar since the hotels had filled up completely at the onset of their immigration.

The Triumvirates were a religious organization based in Sevii who worshipped the three legendary birds Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos. From the onset of their arrival, they had been preaching on the streets to anyone who would listen about how they must be called upon to restore order and protect the Sevii Islands. They even claimed that Moltres dwelled within the volcano Mt. Magma on one of the Sevii Islands, and that its wrath would drive out any invader.

"They've been transferring a lot of rangers to Cinnabar recently," my mother said. "They're probably short-staffed in places like Cerulean now, which is probably why you were assigned there. Where are the rest of you going?"

"Will and I are in Fuchsia," Vince replied.

"I've been stationed in a town called Hawthorne," Garey said. "It's a small town south of Fuchsia about twenty miles from the coast."

"No one nearby, then?" my mother asked.

"I heard a bunch of the privates got stationed outside of Viridian," replied Will. "Other than that, I don't know."

"So what _are _you going to be doing in Cerulean, then?" Sheila asked, repeating my father's original question.

"Aside from protecting the city from wild pokemon, I'll be helping with pokemon-related crime in the city. There's a drug out there that's being used to turn pokemon into monsters and the Cerulean Gym Leader personally asked if I wanted to help out with the investigation." I still had not told my parents or my squad mates about the specifics of Raeda's death.

"So you're going to be like law enforcement, then?" asked my mother.

"Sorta. But only for pokemon-related crime," I told her. "I will also be directing trainers to stop wild pokemon from encroaching on city property. And if they fail, I will personally help other Rangers curb the threat."

"So basically you will be required to keep out pokemon that can bypass many trainers? What if you can't?" asked my mother.

"Then wild pokemon will enter the city and create havoc. People could die if the rangers do not protect the cities," I explained. "But the trainers who form the first line of defense are much less experienced than us in general. Even if the pokemon could get past them, they would be much more hard-pressed to get past us. Ideally, they would be somewhat weakened by that point anyway. The Pokemon League is how it is for a reason."

"I guess," answered my mother, not quite satisfied.

"Are they paying you well, at least?" asked my father.

Garey scoffed. "I could make ten times what they are going to be paying me just by trapping wild pokemon and selling them to the traders' guild. At least Zach is going to be making a little more because of his rank."

"It's true," I added. "The Ranger Corps does not pay well - about 30,000Pb per year at my rank - but the benefits are pretty nice. Free pokemon medical treatment at the Centers, five nights per week of paid lodging there, free top-rate personal medical insurance, and free lodging at the Ranger Barracks. They have one and two bedroom apartments at the Cerulean City barracks, with a pokemon service area like what the Pokemon Centers have underground."

My parents did not seem to like that I was making a fairly low wage, but they kept their comments to themselves. "Speaking of the League and the Elite 4," segued my father. "When do you think you will be ready to fight them?"

"Not for a while," I said. "My team is still pretty low-leveled in comparison. Everyone on my team is between levels 63 and 65, except for Lazarus who is at 58. But I think most of the Elites' teams are in the 70's. But the differences between high levels can be very significant. The skills of pokemon at, say, level 70 can be dramatically more powerful than one at level 68 or 69."

"But it sounds like you're so close!" interjected Vince.

"To put it in perspective," I explained, "my top five pokemon only gained a single level each over the last three months of intense military training. Their skills are significantly better than before, but they only have one level to show for it. THAT'S how much of a difference levels can make at this point. There's a reason it's called the Point of Ambiguity."

"That, and not all of your pokemon have reached their final evolution yet," added Marcus, referring to Gilles and Lazarus. He was obviously not referring to Ceto, whose evolutionary method was unknown and only one Kingdra existed.

"And speaking of which," I said with a smile, "I am going to try to evolve Lazarus soon to remedy that. He's improved significantly since I last tried, so I'm confident it will happen. I'm still not sure with Gilles, though."

"Does the Indigo League allow you to challenge the Elites during your term of service with the Rangers?" asked Sheila.

"Of course!" said Marcus. "It's not like we're no longer part of the Pokemon League. You can still challenge them whenever you want, though if you don't want your pokemon to die, you should probably wait until they're strong enough to compete with them."

"Yeah, I'll do it eventually," I told them. "The road to the Champion's title is a long and dangerous one."

"I don't even want to think about how high the Champion's team levels are…" said Will, his eyes glazing over.

"Not that you could find out," said Marcus. "When's the last time a Champion revealed the levels of his pokemon to the public?"

"I actually know that…" I said with a lowered voice. Everyone except for my parents turned to look at me with shock. "Maybe not an entire team, but I know the level of Azrael's mother, who was one of former Champion Lorelei's leading team members. She was level 88 when my uncle bought her."

"88…" Will said listlessly. "I can't even imagine that."

"We would appreciate it if you wouldn't pass that knowledge around," my mother interceded.

My fireteam nodded in unison before sipping their drinks. We quickly changed the conversation thereafter to a more lighthearted topic. It was nice to be back home with Sheila and with my fireteam. Sheila had been doing well at the Celadon City Gym. She had agreed to a sort of pre-apprenticeship nearly half-a-year ago, much like prospective Elites, which lasts a minimum of two years.

After her pre-apprenticeship, if Sheila has met the aptitude requirements, which involves having beaten at least the first Elite 4 member, she will be taken on as an official apprentice. If she does not meet the aptitude requirements, she will not be allowed to continue training at the gym. Knowing Sheila, I had complete confidence that she would push herself to beat at least two Elite 4 members by that time and become a gym apprentice.

I was also able to see Saraph for the first time since I left for Boot Camp, as she had been put in PokeCryo for the duration of my time there. She was as ornery and aggressive as ever, and she was somewhat confused by the changes in skill level of my team. For her, it had seemed as if only a few minutes had passed during the last few months.

I immediately started training her – mainly through flying with Azrael – to get her some exercise. I only had five days before I was required to report to my commanding officer in Cerulean, but I was also meeting Gym Leader Holmes on the day prior to my start date. I would be leaving for Cerulean in four days, which was enough time for me to give Saraph a crash course in military protocol and behavior.

The behavior portion would be MUCH more difficult to address and much more time-consuming, so I needed to begin as early as possible. It would take a long time for Saraph to act like a responsible member of a military team, much less take orders from anyone besides me.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

On the third day that I was home, I headed out to an open area behind the house with Lazarus. It was time to put his trained skills to use.

"Alright Lazarus, do you think today's the day to evolve?" I asked him. He nodded and punched his fists together energetically, sending electrical sparks flying into his fur harmlessly.

"Great! I don't think I need to tell you what to do, then," I continued, hoisting the lightning stone. I tossed it to him and he caught it, giving it a once over quickly after.

I stood back as he charged his body to the point where it was glowing brilliantly. He then held the stone at arm's length and he took his time to pour all the energy he could muster into a blinding Thunder. His fists glowed so bright that I could not look at them for more than a second, and a flash of lightning split the sky, hitting the stone in Lazarus's palm with a _CRASH! _The entire ordeal lasted about 20 seconds.

My hair was standing on end despite being twenty feet away. Lazarus walked over after calling the bolt of lightning. His countenance was downcast. When he reached me, he extended his hand to reveal the stone glowing brilliantly, but unchanged.

With a sigh, I said, "It's alright, Lazarus. We still have work to do, but we will get there soon. I can't imagine it's too far off."

Lazarus only sighed and carried the stone to a metal piece of fencing. There he touched the stone to it and a loud _pop! _sounded as the metal rod absorbed the stone's electrical current.

I thanked him for that and accepted the stone back, receiving a minor shock from the static it had gathered from Lazarus's fur. After that, he seemed very discouraged. I was determined to see him evolve, and I placed a great amount of faith in him, even if he did not have it himself.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"Leader Holmes, it's nice to see you," I said, shaking the gym leader's hand. "And it's nice to see you too, Aoro."

"Congratulations, ranger," replied Aoro, shaking my hand next. I thanked Aoro and sat down at Leader Holmes' round mahogany dinner table equidistant from her and Aoro.

After a brief period of pleasantries, Leader Holmes addressed the discussion that she had planned. "Zachariah, I invited you here to talk to you about the job I want you for. As gym leader of this city, I have a lot of responsibilities aside from running my gym, including collaboration with the Ranger Corps. When pokemon are used in an official investigation or operation, it usually must be run by me first. What I have brought you to Cerulean for is to help bring down a growing problem, which is illegal pokemon battling."

"I understand that this is a problem, Leader Holmes," I told her. "What I don't understand, though, is how the stimulant is involved," I said, to the point.

"Ah yes, the stimulant. We are now calling it AgreX. We now have more information and have reached somewhat of a breakthrough with it. Recently some joker actually used the stimulant against ME. In my own gym! This happened about a month ago and it turns out that the pokemon he used wasn't actually his. We brought him in and found out that he'd pilfered it from his 32-year-old cousin Gustav to use against my team for his badge. We brought in Gustav, and when he wouldn't talk after a few days, I gave the go-ahead to have the information retrieved from his mind."

Aoro seemed to grimace at that, but he did not interrupt. "He was involved with a Battle Cell – an individual underground ring – here in Cerulean. He was actually one of the people who participated instead of simply observing and/or betting. He bought AgreX from someone he called The Dealer, but that's all we know about him. Also looking through Gustav's memories, we found a few more instances of AgreX being used by other battlers. Its 'street' name is Juggernaut."

"Juggernaut, huh? So what has been done since then?" I asked Leader Holmes.

"Well…" Leader Holmes continued. "We tried to take down the Battle Cell in which Gustav participated, but they somehow knew that he had been taken in because the place was deserted. So we could only determine that they had moved to a different location. We were able to use Gustav's memories to find a few people involved, and from them we were able to find another Battle Cell – possibly the same one Gustav had been a part of. A couple days ago, we sent in a team of six rangers to bust the cell, but they never reported back, and when we went in to find them, we only found three of them. Their bodies were mangled, and the other three were nowhere to be found. The search still continues."

"So somehow a team of six rangers was taken down..." I said. "So what do we do now?"

Leader Holmes leaned forward and said, "I have a very special task in mind, now that we know they are capable of resisting authority outright, but you won't be able to do it alone. It is an undercover mission to find out just what kind of heat they're packing. Also, a side mission is to find out just who The Dealer is. Unfortunately, you are too well-known. So, alongside your unit, we will be working with someone who is not technically law enforcement. I believe you are acquainted with Alexander Harking."

"Alex!?" I exclaimed. "You want me to work with Alex!?"

"Calm down, Zachariah. I know that you two have some bad history, but the fact of the matter is that you two are some of the only people who have any experience with AgreX. He bought and used it for Mew's sake!"

"But he's psychotic! He's obsessed with beating me. He told me he hadn't forgotten everything when I saw him last time," I pleaded. "He's trouble."

"How badly do you want to find out about AgreX, Zachariah?" Leader Holmes asked sternly. "This is a dirty business that we're trying to take down. In order to do so, we might have to deal with dirty people. Alexander is not a cop or a ranger, so he is not bound by oaths of service and honor, but he is the best option we have right now. With his help, we could infiltrate and take down major underground battling operations."

"Or get ourselves killed," I said back. "What guarantee do we have that he will do what he needs to do? How can we trust him?"

"Frankly, Zachariah, Alexander has gone through extensive rehabilitation and he's checked out," Leader Holmes explained. "He told us that the death of his pokemon and his friends because of AgreX drives him to take them down. His motives seem pretty genuine to me. Put your feelings of resentment behind you and let's take these bastards down! And I'll remind you, Zachariah, that you have questionable qualities yourself. For example, your little ghost problem. How do we know it won't appear out of nowhere and ruin an operation?"

"I've dealt with it for over a year now. I can take care of it," I answered defensively.

"So we're going to need to take your word for it, then? Do you see where I'm going with this? Granted, in your case, you have League support when it comes to dealing with the ghost. That is why Aoro's here."

"That's right, Zachariah. I'm here to talk about how we're going to deal with your ghost problem," said Aoro, mirroring Leader Holmes. I was beginning to wonder why he was here, given that he had been very quiet for the conversation thus far.

"We unfortunately do not have much information about Banette, even in our restricted files. We have some information about what _doesn't _work to get rid of them, and much of it is information that you've submitted, but we do not have any information to the contrary. The League sees this as an opportunity to learn more about something we do not know a whole lot about. Leader Kay brought up this initiative to Elite McGall, who then helped to put together a task force. Its purpose is to learn more about your haunting."

"So what? Are you going to be studying me or something?" I asked nervously.

"Something like that," Aoro laughed. "According to what you've told Leader Williamson and the Paranormal Institute, we can see trends in its behavior - the most important of which is what happens between attacks. So far it has used various tactics to cause you harm, including sudden encounters or drawn-out psychological attacks. But one of the most common things that it does is to first give you nightmares, correct?

"That is correct," I replied. "I usually have nightmares shortly before the Banette makes an appearance. Sometimes, it is immediately after."

"Right," Aoro continued. "So our plan is to wait until you receive signs of its imminent return and then act. Until then, you will be outfitted with a League pokemon to keep watch over you. You will receive a more detailed list of protocols for when the ghost actually appears later, but until then, I personally have a question. You reported that you tried to catch the ghost but failed, yet you have a Haunter. What was different in both circumstances?

"Well, when I caught Gilles, we had forced his body to remain on the physical plane. The Banette's body was intangible so the ball went right through it," I explained. "Also, I have yet to actually see the Banette become completely tangible."

"Hm, that's good to know. Again, you will receive your dossier soon, but I can deliver this to you now," Aoro said, extending a hand with a pokeball. "This little guy is lovingly referred to as Fred. He's a Dusclops who's been trained to guard over his trainer while remaining inconspicuous. You probably won't even know he's nearby most of the time. He'll observe your surroundings constantly and he will alert us when he notices a disturbance. Keep in mind that he is NOT a battle pokemon."

"So I will now have two ghosts stalking me?" I asked, somewhat in good humor, and somewhat not.

"If you want to look at it that way," laughed Aoro. "Or you could see it as one ghost providing an invisible set of eyes to guard you when you aren't guarding yourself."

I nodded in defeat, thanked him, and took the ball. "So when does this whole undercover thing start?"

"In a couple of weeks," Leader Holmes replied. "I would prefer to wait until after your next Banette encounter, since we can't risk anything going wrong once the operation is underway. However, I would like to get it started soon. Until then, you will first report to Major Richard Hayfeld at Fort Levi for your assignment."

"Sounds good, Leader Holmes."

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

"So you're the new recruits fresh outta boot," commented the Ranger Major. "Welcome to the Cerulean Ranger Base of Operations. I've received orders from Gym Leader Holmes to place you under the command of Captain Dorris Jung in Northeast Cerulean. You will report to her at Precinct 2 immediately. On behalf of Cerulean City, thank you for your service. Dismissed."

Marcus and I saluted with a simultaneous "sir!" and left. Twenty minutes later, we were shown into Captain Jung's office in the second precinct. Her office was situated across from the Chief Inspector's office.

"Marcus Bradford and Zachariah MacAfee," the captain greeted us. "Welcome to Precinct 2. You will report to Lieutenant Aiden Smith."

"Yes ma'am," we replied.

The captain started looking through some papers and then, noticing that we were still standing in front of her, she looked up and said, "Go. Report to him."

"Yes, ma'am," we quickly replied and then hurried out of her office. From there we went to the supervisor bay where police and detective cubicles were situated. A walled-off, windowed pair of offices lay at the back of the room. On one of the doors was a plaque that read, "Inspector" and on the other was one that read, "Ranger Corps Supervisor."

We went to the latter office and stood before the Lieutenant. His dark hair was cropped short and crisp, and he looked like he exercised regularly. "Corporal MacAfee, reporting in, sir," I said.

Then Marcus said, "And Private First Class Bradford, sir."

"Welcome, both of you," Lieutenant Smith told us while looking over a pair of files. "Your boot camp records are exemplary. I'm designating you both as B15 team. I want you two to review the department policies today, and tomorrow you will report to the Route 9C Ranger Outpost for Overwatch. You will have a more formal schedule sent to your PokeDexes in a couple of days."

"Yes sir," we both answered.

"Marvelous. Dismissed," he said briskly. Marcus and I then left to do his bidding.

"B team, huh," Marcus mused as we made our way to the employee lounge. He seemed to be in a happy mood. "Couldn't possibly hope to make A team, and B team wasn't much more possible. What the hell, man? I get that you're a league finalist and all, but that might have landed you at C team. Together we had a high chance of making D team, but we got B?"

"Leader Holmes wants me on a case. Maybe we need to be a specific designation in order to be qualified for it," I said hypothetically. To be honest, I was fairly surprised as well. "Maybe it's because of my League record."

"I'm not going to lie, man, I'm pretty excited. But what if we get put up against something beyond our capabilities? Do you think we're qualified for B team?"

"I don't think it matters what we think," I said. "The Ranger Corps thinks we're qualified, so why not trust their judgment? We'll deal with whatever we're put up against, and we'll win."

"Well I'm happy you're so confident…" Marcus mumbled.

The Ranger Corps works with the police force in every city, but they are separate. Ranger Corps officers and police leaders work together to maintain law and order. However, rangers are only utilized in instances involving pokemon. In the meantime, rangers are put into two-man teams and provide protective services in and around the city against wild pokemon. The four main duties for rangers are:

Overwatch, which is Route duty involving flight patrols, wandering patrols, and emergency trainer assistance

T.P.R. which stands for Tactical Pokemon Reinforcement and involves backing up police S.W.A.T. operations

City Defense, which is defense against large pokemon horde attacks

Military Strategy, which is only utilized during times of war.

Furthermore, ranger teams are given class designations to reflect their aptitude. Their class designation determines how difficult an operation they can undertake. Class designations range from A to F, with A being the most advanced class.

The rest of the work day was a mix of informational videos, paperwork, and informal tests to reinforce Marcus's and my knowledge of law enforcement conventions and procedures. During this entire time, I was cognizant of the invisible eye of Fred watching over me. When I had released him, he fixed his red eye upon me and simply faded away into nothing, but I knew he was still nearby. We met several other people, police officers and rangers alike, but we were the only ones who were reviewing the introductory materials.

The next day, Marcus and I reported to the Route 9C ranger outpost, which is about 75 miles northeast down Route 9. We arrived by 0700 to find six other rangers lounging. Aside from Marcus and I, there were two privates first class, two corporals, a sergeant, and a master sergeant. A team of two always stayed at each ranger outpost to monitor phones and email, and offer services to passing trainers, like providing directions, trainer tips, and medical aid. Other teams provided backup and lounged in between patrol shifts.

A few smaller pokemon were scattered throughout the outpost. An Ariados hid in the corner of the ceiling, a Kadabra was meditating in a rocking chair, and a Furret was jumping from the beams of the ceiling.

The highest ranking ranger was master sergeant James Duvall, and he introduced Marcus and myself to the others. He then told us that we would be on flight patrol on a 25-mile stretch to the east of the outpost at 0800. He then linked a map to our GPS's with patrol routes. We were then given coffee and shown to the bunkhouse where we would be staying for the next few days, where we unloaded our possessions and acquainted ourselves with the facilities.

By 0800, two teams had returned, one from wandering patrol and the other from flight patrol. The team from the wandering patrol looked a little worn, but that was because wandering patrols are basically hikes in random areas of a route. Flight patrols are helpful, but sometimes it is difficult to see down in the trees. Wandering patrol puts rangers on the ground to seek out problems needing to be solved.

Oftentimes, rangers will battle trainers if they are challenged to keep their pokemon fit, but they never use their entire teams. Beating a trainer's entire team would leave him or her without protection in the wilderness, which is counter-productive to the Ranger Corps' mission.

Before the wandering patrol team fully relaxed, the master sergeant asked if they had anything to report. "Ursaring attack. Not a pretty sight," one of them said.

"We have a pokeball belt, a PokeDex, and some belongings," the other one said. "We only found a couple pieces of the trainer. We'll fill out a report before we hit the hay."

"Good job, rangers," the master sergeant responded solemnly. "I'll look over the reports when you're finished and then notify any relatives."

"Thank you sir," they each said before sitting down in front of a computer to fill out the online report.

At 0800 sharp, Marcus and I took off into the sky, me atop Azrael and Marcus atop his Pidgeotto, Rath. Once in the sky, we spread out so that about a mile of open space separated us. Then we flew on, watching over the forest trail below. I occasionally saw flashes of color through the trees, the rustles of foliage as pokemon ran for cover, and trainers trekking along open patches of trail. It was relaxing in a way, but I was always supposed to be on guard for any emergency that might present itself.

Luckily, it was not a very eventful day. We flew for about four hours before we returned to the outpost. During that time, we only descended once to check on a fallen tree for any potentially injured people. When we found no one, we returned to the sky.

When we returned to the outpost, we had lunch. Then at 1300, we set out on wandering patrol. Marcus and I chose to follow a river, each of us on either side. Marcus had Snapjaw and I had Ceto following in the river. He also had his Weavile following beside him and I had Rufus beside me. We followed the stream for an hour and then angled back toward the main road. On the way, we met a set of six trainers heading towards Lavender Town, and two of them challenged us.

They each had five badges, but that did not stop them from wanting to battle us. While the two trainers prepared to battle us, I saw a few of the others whispering amongst themselves and looking at me. For the time being, I ignored them and squared off against a kid roughly my age. We were only allowed to use two of our pokemon, so I picked Saraph and Dante.

The kid finally decided on which of his pokemon to use and tossed a pokeball into the air. He was wearing a black fingerless glove with what appeared to be a slightly glowing blue circle in the palm. He caught the pokeball and flung it toward me while yelling, "I choose Golbat!"

The pokeball released the large bat right in front of me while I released Saraph. The trainer's pokeball then zipped straight back to his gloved hand. We both were surprised; me by the nifty pokeball trick, and him by the fire dragon that appeared in front of him.

"Saraph, Flare Blitz!" I yelled.

"Supersonic!" the trainer yelled.

Saraph jumped into the air and spread her wings, the fire from her tail instantly spreading to her whole body, and shot towards the bat who let loose a concentrated pulse of sound waves at her. The Golbat narrowly dodged the fiery dragon, who dove past it and ended up crashing on the ground. When she rose from the ground, she clawed at her head in pain. The Golbat then spat out a glob of sludge, which sprayed across Saraph's face and painted it black. The attack broke Saraph from the confusion.

"Fire Blast, then Flare Blitz!" I ordered. The bat once again sent a confusing pulse of sound waves, but not before Saraph had let loose a ball of fire that crashed into it with a fiery explosion. Saraph was caught once again by the supersonic pulse, and she grabbed her head in pain. Meanwhile, the Golbat fell out of the air with some of its fur alight.

When it hit the ground, it rolled around spasmodically attempting to put the fire out. I kept yelling to Saraph to try to get her attention. Finally, after a few seconds, she shook off the confusion once again and leapt into the air. She drove herself forward with a mighty flap of her wings, and her fiery body crashed hard into the much smaller, writhing Golbat. The Golbat did not move when Saraph recovered, and it was recalled. At first I thought Saraph had accidentally killed the bat, so I was relieved when it disappeared into its ball.

I recalled her and sent out Dante while the kid threw another pokeball with a dramatic flourish. Out came an Azumarill, its large ears training on its opponent in anticipation. Its opponent, a seasoned finalist Gallade, extended his blades menacingly. While Saraph may have been at roughly the same level as her opponent, Dante was out of his opponent's league entirely.

"Psycho-Smash!" I ordered, and Dante acted immediately. He teleported away about twenty feet, and the water rodent sent a barrage of jets of scalding water, made known by the steam which filled the air above the streams.

When Dante appeared, he let loose a salvo of three psychic blades, and then he teleported once more, narrowly dodging a scalding jet of water. He appeared right behind the Azumarill, his hand curled into a fist. He smashed his fist into the large blue rodent's side with a _crack! _just as his psychic blades reached their targets. The Azumarill managed to dodge one of them, but Dante's surprise attack left it vulnerable to the other two, which ripped into the furry creature's undefended body. Sprays of blood flashed across the air from both the Azumarill and Dante.

Dante had inadvertently hit himself with a psychic blade, but the damage was minimal; a gash stretched a few inches across his thigh where the blade had nicked him. The Azumarill was knocked out instantly and thrown to the side by the powerful combo. The trainer hung his head in defeat and paid me my winnings while his friends laughed.

Marcus then began his match with the other trainer, beating him by a less impressive margin, but effortlessly nonetheless. During the match, I heard one of the laughing trainers say to my previous opponent, "You know you just fought Zachariah MacAfee, right?"

"Who?" he asked.

"You really need to keep up-to-date on the league conferences, man," the trainer said, shaking his head. "JIC champ. Perfect league record. You're lucky your team lived through it; he killed a Gardevoir when he was competing at the tournament."

"…Oh," my opponent replied simply.

Then, during Marcus's match, they proceeded to ask me questions about my training method, my pokemon, and the Ranger Corps while snapping photographs. When Marcus finished and we had resumed our patrol, he asked, "So does that happen a lot?" referring to the way the trainers reacted to me.

"Yeah… I guess it comes with the territory, though. If you're successful at all, people will recognize you," I replied, trying not to sound like too much of showoff. Unfortunately, my attempt at downplaying my success was not successful.

"Cocky much? Might want to work on that," Marcus told me. "Might make you look like less of an ass."

"Fair enough," I said, and we continued our trek. When we returned to the outpost at dusk, we ate an adequate dinner and then took advantage of some downtime. We were always ready to respond to an emergency, but since official patrols were only allowed during the daylight hours, we were given some leniency with how we used our time. Without much thought, I took my pokemon out to a nearby meadow and trained. After all, the Indigo Conference was approaching.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

It turned out to be an eventful first week of ranger duty. I responded to three different emergencies, two during the day and the other at night. In one of the incidents that took place during the day, Marcus and I were called on to abandon our flight patrol to answer an emergency distress call. We arrived at a grisly scene.

Two bodies were ripped apart and scattered around a campsite. Also amongst the body parts were the bloodied corpses of a Pidgeotto, a Butterfree, and a Poliwrath. Marcus and I spent little time gathering what evidence we needed to fill out an incident report, including pictures and their pokeballs, before taking off into the sky.

I wanted to find out what pokemon did this to the trainers, but Marcus pointed out that we did not know what caused their deaths. The large footprints and gashes indicated a large pokemon with thick claws like an Ursaring, but he did not want to stick around. Marcus quickly explained that anything that could take out so many opponents would not be a wise creature to mess with without backup, even with our teams at their skill levels. As far as we knew, there might even be more than one.

When we returned, another ranger identified the incident as an Ursaring attack. Whether or not it was the same Ursaring that attacked the previous trainer, we had no way of knowing for sure. But the attacks happened about 12 miles away from each other, so it was a possibility. We returned the next day with another team of two rangers to clean up the site of the massacre.

The second incident, which took place just after midnight, was a lot more successful and reassuring to my sense of usefulness. The call came in while I was training with my team outside in the dark. Rufus had been making a lot of progress on his blackout capabilities and shadow-melding. My PokeDex suddenly called out in the voice of Master Sergeant Duvall, "Corporal, we have a Type B1 distress call at the coordinates being uploaded to your Dex! Get there quickly!"

Type B1 refers to aggressive human interaction where deadly motives have not yet been established. It could quickly evolve to B2, which is deadly human interaction, so time was short. Before I could completely recall my entire team, Marcus appeared beside me alongside his Hypno. I got the picture and recalled all except Dante. Of all the teams at the Route 9C ranger outpost, mine and one other had reliable teleporters, so we were the ones most likely to be called out to take care of urgent problems.

My GPS showed the location in distress about eight miles north. It took Dante only one teleport to put me in the vicinity of the distress beacon. When I appeared, I was faced with a group of five black-clad people surrounding a camp of one trainer with four pokemon standing around him defensively.

Marcus and I appeared with _pop! pop! _and two of the black-clad aggressors turned to face us. I heard one of them say, "Shit man, the little bastard called the rangers!"

"Marcus, call for backup," I said in a low tone. Then I called out, "Return your Pokemon to their balls immediately!" all the while releasing Azrael behind me. Then I released Rufus as well for an extra set of eyes. We had about ten minutes before our backup would arrive by air once Marcus sent out the call.

When the aggressors gathered together and did not immediately recall their pokemon, I yelled, "Return your pokemon immediately! If you do not comply, we are authorized to use force!"

All of a sudden, Azrael and Rufus each let out a battle cry and surged to the right, where a Mightyena was slinking aggressively. At the same time, Marcus's Blastoise, Snapjaw, let out a roar and a warning shot from his shoulder cannon at another to the left. Azrael glared down at the large wolf-like pokemon with raised lips from which dancing fire spilled, while Rufus returned to my side at my command. Snapjaw was soon backed up with Marcus's Meganium, Leif, who also glared intimidatingly from above the hostile Mightyena.

"RETURN THEM NOW!" I ordered, my tone much more serious and angry. I was committed to solving this problem without violence, for if violence was necessary, then there would be a very good chance that people would die.

One of the people put up his hands defensively and another started inching off to rear. "You will remain where you are!" I ordered. "This is your last warning; recall your pokemon immediately!"

The person trying to discreetly escape halted. As I took out Gilles' pokeball, I saw several eyes focus on my motion before the aggressive pokemon disappeared in flashes of red light. "Okay, okay, chill officer," one of them said. The camper also recalled his pokemon.

"Sir, these people were telling me to give them all of my stuff!" the boy in the camp yelled out.

"I'm going to have to ask you to show us your PokeDexes," I said to them all. Silence followed except for some awkward shuffling. "You!" I said, pointing to the closest person to me. "Show me your PokeDex now."

"I, uh, don't really… uh," he said awkwardly.

"He doesn't have one, Zach," Marcus whispered to me. "I don't think any of them have one. And they are obviously using them aggressively."

Realizing that the situation could become very bad very quickly, I ordered, "Drop your pokeballs onto the ground now!"

Several pokeballs dropped immediately from three of the five people. I quickly released Gilles and told him, "Gather the pokeballs that were dropped." He laughed, disappeared, and then sped away to do so.

The remaining two stared at us defiantly. The pokeballs at the others' feet quickly seemed to hurl themselves over to us. "Drop your pokeballs," I repeated.

"Man, we can't get caught without a license. We're gonna be so screwed," I heard one of the defiant figures quietly say.

"Shut up! Do you really want to fight that thing? And there's already backup coming," another of them said.

"I don't want to go to jail!" the other defiant one said, raising his pokeball.

I saw him bring up the ball and yelled, "Azrael, Dragon Rush!" right as the Mightyena appeared in front of him. "Gilles, hypnotize them!" I yelled, but my voice was drowned out by Azrael's mighty roar.

Whether out of fear or out of optimism that they might be able to escape, all of the aggressors except for one, and the trainer, scattered. The other one cowered near the campfire. "Marcus, get the two running to the left!" I said quickly. Pokemon were being released to stall me and Marcus, but our pokemon were already in motion.

Azrael slammed into the Mightyena before it could act, and a sickening _crunch _could be heard as Azrael's massive weight and claws crashed into the smaller wolf. Rufus was bounding towards one of the fleeing defiant aggressors and I was drawing my bow. Snapjaw had also charged into battle against another Mightyena while Leif was running towards one of the fleeing men.

"Dante, hamstring the runners," I ordered, and Dante's eyes glowed before he disappeared with a _pop!_ I ran forward, with Marcus directing his Hypno to catch another runner behind me. The person fleeing from Rufus looked behind him with terror and released a pokemon over his shoulder.

A Croconaw appeared, but I yelled, "Keep going for him!" Rufus bounded past the large reptile while I shot an arrow. The Croconaw attempted to snap at Rufus, but he missed and the arrow caught it in the back of the neck at the base of its skull. It seized and fell forward into the ground instantly. Meanwhile Azrael was engaged with a large Graveler that had taken the place of his previous foe.

Dante reached the furthest runner via teleport and used his blade to slice the runner's thigh, causing him to fall. The Hypno reached another and blasted him back with a psychic pulse. Rufus caught his foe by the back of the ankle with a Fire Fang and brought him down screaming. Lastly, Gilles had managed to hypnotize one of them and was collecting more pokeballs while Marcus was directing his Blastoise and Meganium to finish their battles with offending pokemon.

All the pokemon who had stopped a runner now stood guard over them. In the end, five pokemon died, all of whom were being used illegally. Unlike trainer battles, rangers do not have to be friendly when they are forced to enter battle. If we can incapacitate a pokemon, we are encouraged to do so, but the safety of us and our pokemon is the highest priority, meaning that we do not take unnecessary risks.

Our job was made significantly easier once two other teams of rangers showed up to help. Those who had resisted and fought back against Marcus and I were subjected to harsher punishment by the courts, while the person who had not resisted received a more lenient sentence. There was, of course, a lot of paperwork to fill out. None of them had a PokeDex, and they were attempting to mug someone. Furthermore, most of them resisted cooperation and assaulted the rangers who were handling them. Though none of the pokemon were able to actually attack me or Marcus, our pokemon are considered extensions of ourselves and therefore count as rangers should they be attacked by hostile people.

Before we left, the trainer thanked us and we replied with a crisp, "Just doing our jobs. Be careful out there."

That night, I slept well knowing that I had already succeeded in making a positive difference, no matter how small.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The last incident was a large group effort in which I came face to face with one of the most infamous wild pokemon in Kanto; a creature that few people had ever encountered alone and lived to tell the tale.

Marcus and I were on lunch break when Master Sergeant Duvall ran over to us and said, "You are needed ten miles east of Cerulean City! Teleport there and then get on your fliers. Here are the coordinates." He tapped on his PokeDex, and our PokeDexes received a notification that our GPS had received coordinates. "Corporal MacAfee, you are specifically ordered to ride your Garchomp. Both of you bring your comms. Dismissed."

"Yes sir," Marcus and I said before rushing out.

"What do you think the problem is?" Marcus asked.

"Not sure," I replied. "But it's obviously something big if they specifically want me to come in with a dragon…"

We released our psychic pokemon and made several jumps to the south. When we arrived at the coordinates, we found a team of rangers waiting. "Report in!" they ordered, and we gave them our names.

"Right, mount up and head about five miles east to the main group. You will know it when you see it," one of them told us.

We quickly made our way into the sky, where we approached a large group of airborne rangers about five minutes later. I even saw a couple Ace trainers amongst them. All in all, there appeared to be around 18, and at their lead was a magnificent Dragonite. Its golden scales glittered in the sunlight while it made small circles alongside an Ace trainer.

I could tell that it was not Glemdrin. It was smaller than the Champion's starter, but it was nonetheless terrifying. On its back was a woman whose long brown hair rippled in the wind behind her and whose dark brown clothing depicted the sigil of Cerulean City: the Cascade Badge.

The Ace trainer beside the gym leader was riding a Salamence similar in size. Its blue scales also glittered brilliantly in tandem with the golden dragon.

Leader Katherine Holmes caught sight of Azrael once we were within a few hundred feet and started to fly towards me. "Holy shit, man! I haven't seen a Dragonite in person before! It has to be Jupiter, Holmes' Elite!"

"No kidding," I answered.

"Corporal MacAfee and Private First Class Bradford!" she hailed us.

"Reporting as ordered, Gym Leader," we said, saluting.

"We have a situation, as I have no doubt you've presumed," she addressed us. "Serelath is on her way at this moment. She passed the boundary of her territory about ten minutes ago, which means she will be here in roughly ten minutes if she continues. You will keep your pokemon under control unless called upon for support. You are here for support." Then she looked at me and said, "Zachariah, the size of your Garchomp might help us show Serelath that a fight is more trouble than it's worth. You are team C here, which means you will hang back about 50 feet on my left side. Got it?"

"Yes, Gym Leader," replied Marcus and I.

"Good, welcome to the rangers," she said, and then turned her Dragonite around to join the other dragon rider.

"Legendaries… Serelath!?" Marcus exclaimed, looking sick. The prospect of facing down the great Charizard must have overshadowed his excitement over seeing Jupiter. He was even starting to sweat.

"Pull it together, Marcus!" I told him sternly. "They deal with her all the time. We got this!"

Marcus seemed to shake it off a bit, but he still looked nervous. "Right, sorry."

"Let's go." We flew over to the front of the group. Most of the rangers were riding Fearow and Pidgeot - large and formidable birds of prey. Along the way, I patted Azrael's neck and told him, "Looks like we are going to see a very powerful dragon, Azrael. This should be good!" I felt his neck rumble in acknowledgement and excitement.

We reached the place where we were assigned and started making small circles. While we waited, Marcus noted, "Leader Holmes seemed real cozy with you. How close are you both?"

"Somewhat," I responded. "Our paths have crossed a few times."

He did not continue. But soon I heard my earbud ring out, _Get in formation! Serelath is approaching!_

We did as we were ordered and waited longer, watching for the mighty dragon. About 100 feet to my right was the Ace trainer riding the Salamence. A minute later, I saw a glint of light on the horizon. It grew closer quickly until I made out the image of an enormous crimson dragon. As the great Charizard Serelath grew closer, I realized that she was larger than Azrael. Her booming roar sent shivers down my spine, and I could even feel Azrael's breathing grow more rapid, though I did not know whether it was from nervousness or excitement.

She slowed herself down a few hundred feet in front of Leader Holmes, where she hovered. Her fangs were bared ferociously. Leader Holmes did not say a word; Serelath knew her and why she was blocking her. I saw her look at the large group of trainers, and her gaze lingered on me and Azrael.

The great crimson wyrm then let loose a nerve-shattering roar and shot an impressive stream of fire into the air above her. The fire reached hundreds of feet, and had she been aiming at Holmes or even the trainers behind the gym leader, she might have actually hit one of us.

"Shit!" I heard Marcus cry out behind me. He was sweating profusely.

"Keep it together!" I told him. Truth be told, I was frightened as well. I hoped that we would make it through without engaging the dragon.

_Hold fast; it's just a territorial threat display. Do not engage until ordered to do so! _Leader Holmes' voice rang out from our earbuds.

When Serelath saw that our group had not dispersed or attempted to engage her, she simply glared at Leader Holmes for about 15 seconds before she huffed and sent a ball of fire toward the ground, where it exploded and enveloped an area twenty feet in diameter in an intense inferno. After that, she was gone.

_Team F and G, get that fire under control ASAP. The rest of you stand firm!_

We watched as Serelath flew back the way she had come. Finally, when her passage back into her territory was radioed in, we were allowed to land. There were a couple cheers of triumph before people started to return to their posts. Before Marcus and I could leave, Leader Holmes found us and recalled her Dragonite.

"That went very well. Sometimes we aren't so lucky. Your name is Marcus Bradford, correct?" she asked my partner.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, still a little white from the experience.

"Your partner seems a little green around the gills," she said to me with a laugh, resulting in Marcus glowing red. "How are you settling in to your duties?"

"I'm settling in well, I think," I replied. "But I didn't realized how big Serelath is. She was absolutely terrifying!"

"Well good job in not breaking formation," she commended us. "I think your dragon might have played a major role in fending her off. But she's never seen him before so it was actually about a 50/50 chance that she would either turn away or test your strength."

"Huh, that's comforting," I said sarcastically. "But anyway, is there any progress on the AgreX mission?"

"Not yet. You will be notified when we need you. In the meantime, we still have not been notified that your problem has presented itself. Fred!"

Marcus had been listening with confusion, but he let out a startled yelp as my ghostly cyclops materialized beside him. "Have you detected the Banette yet?" Fred shook his ghastly head from side to side. Leader Holmes sighed and said, "I'm getting a little impatient, but I guess it can't be helped. You can return to your oversight, Fred."

The ghost floated backwards, gradually growing wispier until he disappeared entirely. "It seems you might have to brief your partner on this," Leader Holmes told me, noticing the look of bewilderment on Marcus's face. "I must get back to my gym now. It was a pleasure working with you. I look forward to solving this ghost problem."

"Thank you, Gym Leader Holmes. I do too," I responded. At that, Leader Holmes released her beautifully white Swanna and flew away towards Cerulean City.

"So, is there something you wanna tell me Zach? What the hell is a Banette?" Marcus asked impatiently.

I shook my head and said, "I'll tell you later tonight. It's a long story."

Later that night, after I had informed Marcus of my history with the Banette, strategically leaving out the specifics of its creation, he asked me, "So you've got a murderous ghost after your head? One that came from a terrorist that you defended yourself against?"

"Pretty much," I answered.

"And the gym leader of Cerulean City wants your help to bring down illegal pokemon fighting because you've seen in person a drug they use?"

"Yep."

"…What the hell, man? How does one kid get into so much crap?" Marcus asked, almost in disbelief.

"That would probably be due to bad luck and rash decisions," I said humorously. Then I gave it some thought and said, "When I hear something bad going on, I can't help but want to find out what it is. When normal people would say 'screw this, I'm leaving it alone,' I'm seeing what I can do about it. I don't like feeling powerless."

"There's a difference between being powerless and knowing your limits," Marcus said. "For example, I KNOW that I could not beat Seralath one on one, but I'm not powerless because I can choose to avoid the confrontation."

"That's true," I admitted. "But if you avoid the confrontation, you might miss out on making a difference. What if your intervention is all that stands between someone living and dying?

Marcus took a little while to answer, but when he did, he said, "But what if your intervention makes things worse? What if they die anyway?"

Marcus's reply hit deep. Unbeknownst to him, he had pointed out the negative possibility that I had seen play out as a result of my actions. I could only reply, "There is a chance that you could fail. But I believe that being a pokemon trainer prepares you to look at situations that have a possibility of failure and fight anyway. Every time we challenged a gym leader, we knew there was a possibility we could lose, regardless of how much we prepared. I believe the point of having the second phase of gym battles is to make sure that the threat of losing is always present. It prepares us to have the courage to take on a challenge, even if the stakes are dire, and to have the resolve to see it through to the end. And if you lose, losing helps you understand what it feels like to mess up, and it teaches you to learn from your mistakes so that you don't make them again."

"The difference between that, though, is the fact that human lives are at stake," Marcus pointed out.

"One thing that I believe has led to my success is the fact that I train with my pokemon. I may be their leader, but we are a family. I care for them more than most of the people I have sworn to protect as a ranger. Pokemon battling is a brutal sport, and they are trained to be weapons for our use. The Ranger Corps trained US to be weapons as well.

"What does it say about you if you refuse to put your own life at risk when you call on your pokemon to do the same every day? What does it say to the people we could save if a ranger is not willing engage in the sport that he has subjected his pokemon to? Our relationships with our pokemon are inherently unequal, but we are still required to have compassion to be truly successful, just like we are supposed to have compassion for our fellow man."

Marcus did not reply for a long time. When he did, he said, "You know, you don't normally come off as a philosopher. But now that you do, you're significantly more annoying."

I laughed, but I knew that he was somewhat serious. Honestly, if the 'me' two years before had met the 'me' then, he probably would have thought the exact same.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

In the middle of the second week of my station at the Route 9C ranger outpost, I received a visitor. Five, actually. Two professors from the Paranormal Institute, two Ace trainers, and the third Elite, Kain McGall.

They arrived shortly after 0900, before which my commanding officer had not scheduled my team for a patrol. They all appeared at the same time outside of the outpost with the Elite's Alakazam. When the Elite entered the outpost, we all stood and saluted.

"Zachariah MacAfee, a pleasure as always," he said, his tone indicating otherwise. "I trust you know why we're here."

I nodded. Fred had materialized beside the Elite. "I haven't had a nightmare yet, though. And I just thought that Fred would notify me first."

"The Dusclops detected change in your aura. Something reaching out for you. The Dusclops reached out to us first because it was imperative that we find out as soon as possible," the Elite explained.

"Makes sense," I replied. "So what now?"

"Now, we leave. Your teammate will remain here. We'll be going to Fort Levi where you'll be placed in quarantine until the ghost manifests," replied Elite McGall. "We depart immediately. Meet back out here in ten minutes."

I nodded and ran to the barracks. Marcus followed me. "So you also run into a member of the Elite 4 regularly?"

"More than others, I guess," I replied.

"More than others, no shit," he said, sounding perturbed. "There's a lot I don't know about you."

"There's a lot you don't _want _to know about me," I replied tersely.

"Maybe you're right. But it's freaking me out," Marcus said as we reached the bunks.

"Fair enough," I said as I quickly packed a satchel with a change of clothing and toiletries. "It's probably best to keep it that way."

"Damn, do you have to sound so cryptic? You're just making it worse!" he said, frustrated.

"Sorry, Marcus. I'll try to be less so," I said, trying to placate him.

"Oh joy. Thanks, I guess," he replied, obviously dissatisfied.

I met the team of five outside and we immediately teleported. We appeared in front of a building inside Fort Levi, but instead of immediately walking inside the building, Elite McGall hesitated and looked at his Alakazam. We waited about fifteen seconds while they had a silent conversation and then the Elite ushered us inside.

The building was a fitness gym, and I was led to an elevator which deposited us in an underground cavern much like those underneath the Pokemon Centers except there were obstacles and training equipment for pokemon and their trainers. It was completely empty of people; it must have been cleared for this experiment.

Elite McGall took me to the center of the large room and said, "Now we wait. I've no doubt it will show itself within the next day."

"Alright, so what do we do with our time?" I asked.

"_We _don't do anything," he answered impatiently. "I'm going to leave one of my team members here to wait with you while I go back to work. You can do whatever you see fit here. Take advantage of the facility."

"Oh, of course, sir," I said sheepishly.

"Great. Now that we're on the same page, I'll be going," he said, still impatient. He released a Xatu and then disappeared with his Alakazam. The Xatu made no move other than to fix its intense eyes on me. As unsettling as it was, I turned my attention away.

I released my pokemon and started to put them through some drills. As they exercised, I spoke with the professors and the Ace trainers. Apparently, for this experiment, the two Ace trainers and one of the professors brought a ghost pokemon each. The Ace trainers had a Gengar and a Dusclops, adding another of the cyclops-like ghosts to the room. The professor released what appeared to me to be the molted shell of a Ninjask, which of course triggered memories of Raeda to well up in my mind.

The professor explained to me that it was a Shedinja, the husk of a Ninjask who recently killed a foe. The foe's soul then possessed the empty shell, making it ultra-hard and nigh impenetrable. I was surprised, then, to realize that I might have watched an actual pokemon fly away on the wind when Raeda's shell fluttered away.

In all, there were five ghost pokemon guarding me. And as expected, that night held dark tidings.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

_I was standing in a dimly lit hallway. When I looked behind me, there was only a blank wall, but when I looked back, there was a figure ahead. It slowly shambled down the passage, making jerky movements. The figure was silent, but I could hear what sounded like a quiet low howl of wind. The low howl of wind seemed to grow in volume as the figure grew nearer ever so slowly. _

_My initial impulse was fear and claustrophobia, since there was no place to run. Soon the figure was close enough that I could make out some of its features. It looked like it had skin completely covering its eyes, leaving shallow indents where they should have been in its face. Its nostrils were slits in its leathery-looking skin, and its mouth reached clear across its face. It was slightly open, revealing sharpened teeth. Black wild hair hid its ears if it had any. Its arms and fingers were eerily long, and it wore no clothes. _

_Alongside the howling wind was a blurring and distorting of the red and black wall paint. It was as if the creature was causing the walls to spasm. When the horrid visage came within ten feet of me, it stopped. I glared at it, angry at the ghost that would not stop tormenting me. But before it could make any more progress, three sets of red glowing eyes and two sets of single, larger eyes appeared between me and the thing. _

_The glow of the red eyes intensified, driving the figure back down the hallway until the howling wind died out completely. But just as the dream seemed to fade, the figure gave out a last-second blood-curdling shriek that woke me up in a cold sweat._

"Zachariah!" one of the professors exclaimed. The Shedinja floated beside him, seemingly lifeless.

"What happened? Did it appear?" I asked, groggy and shaken.

"No, but the ghosts went crazy all of a sudden. You look like you had a nightmare," he replied.

"No kidding…" I murmured, annoyed. "Well this is what we were expecting, right?" I asked. Then I looked around and saw Elite McGall standing nearby. He looked to be deep in thought.

"Yeah, it's only a matter of time before the Banette shows itself now."

"When it does, what's the plan?" I asked.

"Leave that to us," interjected one of the Ace trainers.

"Are you sure? I can help. I want to help," I argued, but the Elite reiterated their order.

With annoyance and frustration, I went back to sleep.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The next morning, Elite McGall returned. He brought another person with him who had a similar piercing gaze and rigid posture as he. I noticed that the Elite used a different, more amiable tone with me than usual when he addressed me. "Zachariah, I would like you to meet Matthew."

I shook Matthew's hand. "Matthew is here because Leader Holmes and I think he may be able to help with the investigation using less conventional methods. We may be waiting for the Banette to show itself, but there is a good chance we won't be able to get rid of it yet. Until that such time that we can, we're going to take advantage of a few of its side effects. I've been speaking with Gym Leader Johnathan Kay and we've come to the conclusion that the Banette's influence has allowed you to resist certain psychic effects. This might actually be helpful for the investigation."

The Elite's tone grew more somber. "The last operation into a Battle Cell ended very poorly. Three rangers died and three went missing. Two days ago, two of the missing rangers' bodies were recovered. One was found 30 miles away in an abandoned warehouse, and the other was found 40 miles away in a field. It's obvious that they were teleported away and then killed. Further intel from our recent insider, which also lends credence to my former theory, has shown us that one or two shifted trainers psychically scan for potential threats at the entrances of the venues." The Elites tone then switched back to its more amiable state.

"What we have now is a rare opportunity to develop and exploit an unintentional side effect of your haunting to our advantage. Whether intentional or not, you can hide your thoughts, and reveal them as well. When we extracted your memories, you were able to resist direct psychic contact by my Alakazam Balthazar. Leader Kay informed me that he could hardly read your thoughts during your battle. Lastly, when Balthazar teleported us here, he faced considerable difficulty once you joined. I can imagine that your Gallade has also experienced such difficulties, but due to the nature of Gallade, he might not have mentioned it to you.

That was interesting. I did notice that Dante's teleportation skills were not nearly as advanced as other psychics, like Sheila's Gardevoir. "I always assumed that Dante's teleportation skills with me in tow were not as powerful as some other psychic pokemon's because of his fighting subtype," I said.

"Indeed, that is a valid assumption. Gallade are not as adept at teleporting as their full-psychic counterparts, but I have a feeling that your Gallade has met with considerably more hardship when teleporting you due to your haunting. The point I'm making is that you have the opportunity to infiltrate where we are incapable of doing so. That is where Matthew comes in. I'll leave you now to get acquainted. Good day." Elite McGall then teleported away with his Alakazam.

"Zachariah MacAfee," Matthew stated monotonously. "Before we start, I would like to say that I don't particularly like to see my time wasted, so if you would be so kind as to give me your full attention and your greatest effort through our training, I would be most appreciative."

"Yes, sir," I said, extending corps etiquette to him.

"Marvelous. Now if you wouldn't mind, I want to test this resistance of yours," he said, not missing a beat.

"Not at all," I replied, slightly nervous.

He fixed his piercing gaze onto my eyes and his brow furrowed. _Interesting, ..deed_, I heard in my head. Then he spoke aloud, "People can be trained to give false mental information through the intense focus on such misinformation. But it is easy to detect such focus. It is another thing entirely to block telepathy. What this means is that your haunting has given you the ability, with some training, to give a MUCH more convincing false mental image. I train professionals to have this kind of resistance to telepathy, so while you wait for your ghostly stalker to strike, we will be training. You won't be a master at it immediately, but no one will suspect someone of your age to have any training in this field."

I listened raptly. It was a thrilling concept to me, so I responded willingly and enthusiastically. "Wonderful! When do we get started?"

A small smile crept over Matthew's face. "Immediately. Your first task is to block me completely from your mind." Then his eyes opened wide and our training began.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Three days passed with no sign of the Banette. I spent those days training with Matthew, waiting impatiently, but the ghost never attempted to attack me. At night, I worked even more with Dante, who helped me almost as much as Matthew by explaining through metaphor how his telepathy worked on me. I was not the only person growing impatient, either. The Ace trainers grew antsy and Elite McGall frequently expressed his annoyance through email.

I learned particularly fast for a beginner, a fact that Matthew attempted to hide from me out of concern to keep me from growing too cocky. It was not too difficult for me to discern, though. Some of his expressions alerted me to the fact that my quickness in learning surprised him greatly. One such instance of this was when I was able to completely block him out of my mind by the second day. He blinked in surprise, and when I asked him what the problem was, he only responded with, "Nothing. Let's do this again." The next day we worked on giving false information.

With Dante's help, I was able to grasp the concept of receiving and giving telepathic messages easily. With my mind like a deep and dark well, I could imagine bringing a cement block over the top of it or throwing out information from inside like someone drawing water from inside with a bucket. While my skill with it was rudimentary, it was still comparable to an Ace trainer who had spent months training.

On the fourth day of what felt like an imprisonment with a sadistic psychic, Elite McGall returned. With no sign of the Banette, the Elite immediately addressed my training. His Alakazam was able to give me a few sentences mentally, but the Elite himself could not. He also asked me to present a false memory to him when he tried to read my mind.

The Elite could tell the memory was false, but he still nodded and remarked, "This is unprecedented. But even so, it's time to switch to teleportation prevention. This will be much more difficult as it is a different concept. But since it is grounded in the same premise, I believe you should be able to grasp it."

I was slightly confused. I appreciated his confidence in me, but I could not understand why he placed so much in me. So skeptical was I that I asked, "How many people have been able to block a teleport?"

"Not many," the Elite responded. "But none of them had the help of haunting," he qualified with a wink. "I will email you their accounts of how they were able to, to help you."

"Alright…" I said, still nervous.

"Great, keep at it," he said. But before he left, he said, "I am of the understanding that you have accepted an invitation to compete at the Indigo Conference."

I nodded, having given it some thought since joining the Ranger Corps. I was excited for the Indigo Conference, but I had been kept busy enough that it did not come up in conversation.

"Unfortunately, MacAfee, your current predicament renders you unfit for a public competition. You are, for lack of a better description, under quarantine until the Banette shows itself. I will contact the League President and inform him of your status in attempt to make your first fight the last one in the first round. But if the Banette does not show before then, your opponent will win by default. That gives us," he said, "five days."

"Yes, sir…" I said, starting to feel disheartened.

"Good, now back to your training. This is not a simple skill," the Elite replied before teleporting away with his Alakazam.

Seeing my nervous expression at the thought of trying to master the skills expected of me, Matthew said, "The Elite believes you are capable of this. He is the strongest psychic trainer in Kanto. Do not insult his judgment by doubting yourself."

I nodded, feeling slightly ashamed, and then my PokeDex lit up with a notification that I had received an email from Elite McGall. "I'll give you two hours to look over the Elite's notes. Then we're back to it," Matthew said, then he turned and walked away.

While resisting telepathy was a cinch for me, resisting teleportation was a much greater challenge. The concept was difficult for me to grasp. While telepathy dealt with information being exchanged, the other dealt with a force being exerted upon another. To prevent teleportation, according to the accounts provided by Elite McGall, one needs to bridge the gap between the two, and put the two in similar terms. In other words, either one needs to view telepathy as an exchange of force, or one needs to view teleportation as the transmission of information.

By the time I was able to gain a grasp of teleportation prevention, I had mastered the concept of defining telepathy in terms of force so that I could adapt the concept to teleportation. However, that was a much longer process. By the time the Banette showed up, I had only managed to develop my understanding of teleportation and prevention into a notion of competing wills. When Matthew's Gardevoir attempted to teleport me, I could resist with primal, unrefined willpower. Unfortunately, against most strong psychic pokemon, my willpower was not nearly as strong. The most I could accomplish after a week was to decrease the distance of a teleport by about a third.

Finally, after five more days of waiting, the Banette conveniently showed up around noon. I was repeating drill after drill with Matthew's Gardevoir, feeling downcast that the second day of the Indigo Conference was underway, when Fred materialized in the center of the hollow. Elite McGall's Xatu immediately disappeared. It only took about three seconds for me to realize what was going on. When I did, I called Gilles over before my wrist, calf, and lower back roared with pain. The professors and Ace trainers were in motion, rushing to me and releasing ghosts.

The familiar baritone laughter rang out, reverberating off the walls of the cavern. The professors both had looks mixed with fascination and fright, but they stood ready. The laughter died and silence fell. Suddenly, the sound of the Ace trainer's Gengar laughing maniacally split the quiet, and a peculiar spectacle of writhing smoke and shadows plummeted out of thin air to swim along the ground as if it were made of water. Several other ghosts joined the Gengar, latching on like leeches until they were able to hold it in place.

They spread out, pulling the Banette's limbs in different directions to keep it still while the professors approached it. At that point, Elite McGall showed up. He glanced at what was occurring and ran over, exclaiming, "It's about time!"

The professors then began to scrutinize the doll-like ghost, frantically recording their observations with a voice recorder. "Gray in color except for bright red eyes, deep low voice that only seems to laugh or scream, mouth closed with a zipper, rips along its arm, leg, and lower back…" one of them rattled off.

The professors continued to take notes until Fred, who was holding onto one of the Banette's arms, suddenly let go, letting out a high-pitched moan. The Banette then used its free arm to literally decapitate itself. It grasped its neck, and tore it completely away, simultaneously laughing and shrieking. The professors flinched back in horror, but the Banette had successfully killed itself before we could reestablish control, freeing it from our experiment.

The professors balked in outrage, fuming at the fact that they had lost the ghost so suddenly. After half-an-hour, though, they were able to give a small report. One of them informed me and Elite McGall that, judging by how the injuries on the Banette's body reflected those on my own body, they could hypothesize that the Banette is able to inflict pain on itself in order to create lasting pain on its host. Also, judging by that characteristic, it probably completely disregards its own safety to terrorize its host indefinitely, growing stronger every time it is killed, thus perpetuating and strengthening its reign of terror.

Unfortunately, not much else was gleaned from the attack. An air of disappointment settled on our group. Elite McGall had regained his harsh and unsympathetic demeanor, but he managed to leave us on a good note. "Well, it could have been more informative, but it was valuable nonetheless. We learned a little, and we have you," he said, looking at me, "training in a specialized skill to help take down illegal pokemon fighting rings. And speaking of which, Matthew will be returning to his job, but you need to continue to train in your off time. Judging by how quickly you learned how to work with telepathy, Leader Holmes and I expect you to have a competent grasp over this by the end of next month. Of course you will also be expected to be proficient with creating false memories by that time. That's when she wants to use you."

My voice caught in my throat. A month was very little time to get a grip on such an advanced skill. "Y-yes, sir," I stuttered.

"Good. Now, if I'm not mistaken, you have a competition to attend. Matthew will give you a lift to the Plateau. God speed, Zachariah," responded the Elite. He then disappeared with his Alakazam. Matthew did not wait long before he gave me a teleport to my ranger post so that I could grab my gear.

When I walked into the outpost building, Marcus called out, "Zachariah, 'bout damn time you got back!" welcoming me back. Then he said under his breath, "They've got me working with some dude from Saffron City. Says he knows you, actually."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, wondering who it could be.

"Zach!" someone called from a corner of the outpost. I looked over to see Chris, one of my first companions, walking over. He wore a ranger's uniform with a private first class insignia on the breast pocket.

"Chris!" I exclaimed. "You're a ranger?"

"Yeah, I finished training last year. Been stationed in Viridian Forest until I got transferred to Cerulean," he told me.

"Wow, good for you! What made you want to become a ranger?" I asked.

"Well, you know, not everyone can be the best in the League. And even those who try sometimes don't get far. Injustice happens every day and the most I can do is try to make the world a safer place for trainers," he explained both solemnly and bitterly.

"No kidding," I said, feeling slightly awkward.

"Well now that Zach's back, I guess you will be transferred back to Viridian?" Marcus interjected.

"Not sure, actually. It would make sense, though, wouldn't it?" Chris asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, I guess it would, but you're going to have to wait a little longer," I replied. "I'm actually about to leave for the Indigo Conference. I could be gone for a day, or maybe even a week," I said with a wink.

"Ha! Don't be too cocky, Zach," Marcus said seriously. "I've seen many pokemon die on LeagueWatch at the Conference. But good luck!"

"Yeah…" I said, feeling awkward. "And thanks."

"Well, I guess I'll let you get to it," Chris replied. "I'm sure the master sergeant wants to speak with you."

I nodded. He was probably right, so I moved through the outpost towards the commanding officer's office. Inside, Master Sergeant Duvall glanced up at me and said, "So, did you have a fun time on leave?"

"Sir, I was under the impression that you had been informed of my activities," I responded.

Duvall groaned and said, "Yes, I'm aware. Just hurry up and get back."

"Yes, sir," I replied, and then left his office. When I returned to Marcus, he was preparing to eat lunch. With a final wave, I left the outpost to rejoin Matthew. Along the way, I sent a message to my parents, Aoro, and Sheila that I was headed to the Indigo Plateau.

When we arrived, it was on the same visitors' platform that I had come to during the Junior Indigo Conference.

Before he left, Matthew told me, "Like the Elite said, keep training. Keep it up and I have no doubt that you will become proficient with these skill by the time you're needed. And hell, you may even be able to find a way to adapt your skills against the _Banette's_ mind games."

Then Matthew teleported away, leaving me to gain my bearings. As it was, I had arrived nearly six hours before my match was scheduled. I felt unprepared, so I headed through the throngs of people to the pokemon center. There, I went to the basement, which was nearly five times the size of a normal one, to engage my pokemon in a light pre-game warmup.

While I released my team, I received a message from Aoro, telling me to remember what we talked about and to keep my team safe. I had given my first team enough thought in the last few months, so I knew which pokemon to use. It was only a matter of mental preparation.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Expert Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979E; Corporal, Ranger Corps.**

**Active Pokemon: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

Lazarus – Electabuzz

**Pokemon in Preparation:**

Saraph – Charizard

**Appropriated Pokemon:**

Fred – Dusclops

**Trainer: Marcus Bradford; KA734PE349; Private First Class, Ranger Corps.**

**Active Pokemon:**

Snapjaw – Blastoise

Leif – Meganium

Shiv – Weavile

Hypno – Hypno

Ironhide – Rhyhorn

Rath – Pidgeotto

**Pokemon in Preparation:**

Magnemite – Magnemite

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I know this one took a while, but unfortunately such is life. I made some progress with the story's plot with this chapter, so hang on to your reading glasses; it's gonna get real!


	29. Chapter 29: The Indigo Conference

Chapter 29

Cheering echoed in the stadium. Despite it not being my first time competing on the Indigo Plateau, I was still overwhelmed by the number of people attending. Being the full-fledged Indigo Conference and not the Junior Conference, it sold out like every other Indigo Conference.

This year was no different. Both the returning tournament champion and runner up were attending, as well as the public hero, Ace Master Chief Virgil McCormick, so the tournament sold out even more quickly than normal.

As far as the rules go, the Indigo Conference is identical to the Junior Indigo Conference. The number of participants was the same, as well as the daily schedules. As such, my match was the final match in the first round, and was set for 9:45 P.M.

I arrived in the participants' section of the bleachers an hour before my match and watched. I did not know anyone there, but a few people knew me. However, they did not make much effort to interact with me apart from an occasional nod. My parents were not present to my knowledge. I had told them not to attend due to my somewhat abashed nervousness about the skill level of my team relative to my competition.

I watched the battles taking place and noted how they differed. Unlike the JIC, during the Indigo Conference there were Ace trainers with protective pokemon stationed at intervals on the lowest rung of the stadium. Their powerful psychics could prevent attacks from spilling over into the stands, and if necessary, fight off hostile, rampant pokemon who decided to disobey their trainers.

The Ace trainers' service was much needed, for the power of the competing pokemons' attacks was much greater than in the JIC. A great example was when a Gyarados sent the majority of the water in its pool sideways with a massive surf technique across the stadium, where it crashed into the wall and rose into the stands. In that situation, the psychic pokemon were able to create a barrier in front of the stands to protect the viewers.

The pokemon were also more formidable and intimidating in general. The Indigo Conference is the tournament in which all of Kanto's strongest trainers compete, if they choose to do so and only if they are invited. An invitation is difficult to get, and it usually requires an application. But for a select few like myself, an invitation is extended on principle. So, given that the strongest trainers compete, the strength of the pokemon is naturally at a higher caliber.

A few common strong pokemon used by Indigo competitors were Rhydon, Blastoise, Ampharos, Pidgeot, Arcanine, Crobat, and Machamp. Psychic pokemon were fairly uncommon to begin with, but Alakazam were among the majority, and dragons were also not uncommon.

The caliber of their trainers is on par with their pokemon. Most of the competitors have beaten at least the first Elite, and those who haven't still have impressive records. While I knew that I would not last long against a team with an Elite record, I knew that I still had a chance to do well. If I was lucky, my first battle would be against someone without Elite battles on his record. If I was even more lucky, I would be put against a trainer with only one Elite triumph on his record in my second match, and then somehow beat him through strategy and dumb luck to make it to the top 64. That would be a win in my book.

I was delighted when I walked onto the stadium floor for my match and looked at the screen with my opponent's record. I saw **Joshua Berret**** – Age: 22. Profession: General Trainer. Badges: 20. Leagues completed: Indigo; Johto. JIC Record: N/A. Indigo Conference Record: N/A. Elite 4 Record: 0. Nugget Bridge: 2-3. Cinnabar Relay Finisher. **

My record was shown as well, and I could hear the distant chanting of my name. **Zachariah MacAfee**** – Age: 19. Profession: Ranger; Corporal. Badges: 8. Leagues Completed: Indigo. JIC Record: 2073 Tournament Champion. Indigo Conference Record: N/A. Elite 4 Record: 0. Nugget Bridge: 3-0. Cinnabar Relay Finisher**. Taking in the scene while walking to my spot filled me with adrenaline. The fact that my pokemon and I had earned recognition, which was evident by the cheers I heard upon entering, also filled me with pride.

I stopped in my designated area and peered over at my opponent. He looked excited and confident, much like how I felt. My JIC championship did not make him nervous, but I already knew that it did not matter here. I did not have any Elite 4 victories and neither did he. We were both at the bottom of the scale at this tournament, and it was as much of a fair fight as he could have hoped for at this level of competition.

Still, my opponent's demeanor had no bearing on my own confidence. I was still going to win this fight. He was just not nervous about my record as most other trainers have been. And it was then that I finally felt something that had been missing for a long time: thrill! I had grown accustomed to fighting trainers with teams below my proficiency level, and more so against trainers who feared me. In short, I had not had a fair fight in a long time, and the feeling of having one was cathartic.

A horn sounded, signaling the start of the battle. I released Rufus since he was an all-around effective fighter. My opponent released a Magneton – a hovering metallic electric type. I started off with the command, "Screen-Pulse!"

Rufus started to billow a cloud of smoke from his maw when the Magneton sent a wave of electricity washing over him. Rufus's muscles seized, but he kept releasing the smoke. Before the Magneton could follow up, Rufus used a dark pulse to project the smoke forward.

I quickly yelled, "Follow up with a flamethrower!" Rufus's seizing muscles prevented him from carrying out my order, though, and the Magneton sent a bolt of electricity arching into the smoke. Luckily, it did not hit Rufus. Seeing that Rufus would have trouble using any move, I decided to have him use his powerful attacks to make what moves he could use count. He would have trouble using blackout at the moment as well.

"Fire Blast!" I yelled, knowing that it would be more effective than a hyper beam due to the metal pokemon's weakness to fire. Another bolt of electricity arched into the smoke and hit Rufus, making him yelp. I watched with frustration as Rufus struggled to regain control of his body until he finally sent a ball of fire hurtling through the smoke and into the slow moving electric pokemon.

The fire blast exploded on impact, engulfing the pokemon in a fiery inferno nearly 15 feet in diameter. When the dust settled, the Magneton was no longer hovering. Instead it was struggling on the ground with parts of its metal armor bright red and melting, and other parts of its body on fire. I expected my opponent to withdraw the pokemon, but I ordered Rufus to repeat the attack anyway just in case.

Hearing me repeat the command, my opponent returned his pokemon. He apparently did not want to risk his pokemon dying from another attack. In the time it took him to release his next pokemon, I looked at Rufus's pokeball to find his health at 25%. I winced. The Magneton had hit him hard, and had also survived a bullseye hit from an extremely powerful fire technique. The Magneton was probably at a higher level than Rufus.

I was aware of the roar of the crowd at what appeared to be a one-hit K.O. from Rufus. Despite Rufus's injury, I kept him out when a Poliwrath appeared in front of him, but I was immediately cautious because both of Rufus's types were weak to both of the Poliwrath's.

"Hyper Beam!" I yelled, while my opponent gave his orders. In spite of Rufus's paralyzed condition, he started to form a ball of light at his mouth.

Apparently, my opponent did not want to draw out the battle, because he had yelled, "Hydro Pump!" Before Rufus could release the Hyper Beam, he was hit on the side by the high-pressure water stream. The smokescreen had made it more difficult for the Poliwrath to aim, but it had still managed to clip him.

Even though it was just a glancing blow, it threw Rufus to the side where he collapsed, and I quickly recalled him, breathing a sigh of relief when he was safe in his ball.

Judging by the pokemon I chose to bring to my first battle, I chose to use Azrael next, but I was nervous because water pokemon tend to have ice techniques at their disposal. When he appeared, we wasted no time giving orders to our pokemon.

"Con-Sandstorm!" I yelled. It would dissipate the smokescreen but replace it with a thick alternative laden with flying rocks. I moved back in anticipation. To my dismay, but not surprisingly, my opponent ordered his Poliwrath to use an ice beam. An icicle lodged into Azrael's large shoulder, but he remained resolute and formed a hurricane of dirt and rocks.

It became so dense that I could not see into it, essentially making it more effective than a smokescreen. From there I had to choose whether to have Azrael engage the Poliwrath in close-quarters, where its ranged ice attacks would not be as effective, or have him attack at a distance while dodging.

Given the Poliwrath's fighting type, I deduced that it would be more effective at short range, and it might even have an Ice Punch move which would be devastating as well. So, I chose to go with the latter strategy. I yelled for Azrael to move back, then I jumped and stomped both feet on the ground, giving Azrael the order to use Earthquake.

Azrael appeared at the edge of the storm nearby. He roared and the earth tore up in the vicinity of the sandstorm around his clawed foot which he slammed into the ground. Then I yelled, "Hyper Beam," as another icy spear shot from inside the storm and narrowly missed Azrael. The spear collided with the wall of the arena, hitting a psychic barrier before it could do damage to the foundation.

Azrael's Hyper Beam was much more successful than Rufus's. It formed in his mouth and then blasted forth into the storm. Though Azrael could not see into the storm perfectly, his ability to detect the Poliwrath's location via seismic vibrations allowed him to hit his target. The collision was made known by a muffled cry from inside the raging storm.

Azrael was breathing heavily after the beam, but I yelled, "Protect!" just in case. My caution payed off, for just as Azrael cloaked himself in the protective barrier, an ice beam collided into his chest. He was unharmed by the attack, but I told him to move so that his position would be masked again. I saw the outline of the Poliwrath moving through the storm towards Azrael. He was switching tactics.

"Move back! Aerial Ace!" I commanded. Azrael moved out of the storm and then leapt into the air, twisting as he soared. The Poliwrath neared the edge of the storm just as it was hit from above by surprise. Azrael crushed him to the ground, where it was recalled and I exhaled with relief.

My relief was short lived. My opponent's last pokemon was a Rhydon. It was large and its skin was dense enough that the sandstorm had no effect upon it. A quick look at Azrael's ball showed him at 35%, so I yelled, "Bulldoze!" expecting the Rhydon to charge. Then I followed up with, "Earthquake Tomb!"

I hoped this would work. We had only practiced it up until this point, but it would be devastatingly effective if it worked correctly. Azrael threw a wave of earth at the Rhydon, which started charging towards him as expected. It hit the Rhydon and made it flinch for a second, but only slowed it down.

During the momentary lull, the ground at the Rhydon's feet turned to liquid and it started to sink. It simply and quickly waded out of it and sent its own bulldoze at Azrael before the dragon could issue an earthquake.

The wave hit Azrael and pushed him back a few feet, and the Rhydon closed the distance between them in that time. The Rhydon leapt forward into a spinning drill-like charge with its horn at the vanguard, and slammed into Azrael. Azrael had managed to block the attack with his horns, but he was pushed back nearly ten feet. Seeing them getting closer to me, I started backing up even more.

"Dragon Claw!" I ordered as I did so, and Azrael sliced at the Rhydon's side, making it roar furiously. The Rhydon suddenly took its fist and slammed it into the side of Azrael's face. Azrael was thrown to the ground, immediately knocked out by the Rhydon's Hammer Arm.

I recalled Azrael as the Rhydon jabbed forward with its nose horn. I was only slightly nervous at this point, because I had Ceto. I release her far on the other side of the arena in a pool of water so that the Rhydon would need to close the distance. When I did so, I yelled "Brine!"

The Rhydon, no longer in danger of risking an earthquake while underground, dug into the earth, but not before it was hit by Ceto's debilitating shot. It shrugged off the hit though and disappeared underground. "Focus Energy!" I yelled.

Ceto focused her energy while she waited for the Rhydon to emerge. The Rhydon arose far away on the other side of the pond, and then it quickly loosed a bolt of electricity into the water. It was too far from Ceto to be threatened by an attack from her, but its electricity surged through the water and hit Ceto nonetheless.

"Get out of there! Waterfall!" I yelled, and Ceto used a wave to project herself out of the water and onto land. The Rhydon immediately returned underground.

"Agility! Dodge!" I yelled. Ceto's speed increased as she moved around the field. "Agility again!" I yelled, and she grew even faster. By this point she was nearly as fast as Rufus. "Protect if you see the ground moving under you!" I yelled. She moved around and then started cutting across the center of the arena when the ground exploded under her. She was not fast enough to react and protect herself.

Ceto was flung through the air and crashed into the ground, tumbling end over end. She rose immediately, though, and I yelled, "Hydro Pump!"

The Rhydon was already upon her though. It bucked its head over and over, slamming its horn into her. I was filled with horror, but that horror changed to hope when I saw that she was blocking each attack on her dense crest. "Find a lull! Hydro Pump!" I yelled, repeating my command.

Ceto took another hit on her crest, and then in the time between attacks, she fired a pressurized spout of water into its throat. It was not as powerful as a normal Hydro Pump since it was rushed, but it was strong enough with her energy focused and placed just in the right spot to stagger the monstrous rock and ground pokemon.

"Finish it!" I yelled, and Ceto built up another Hydro Pump, which she released point-blank into the Rhydon's face. Skin tore off of the thing's nose and a couple teeth went flying as it fell to the ground defeated.

I released the breath I had been holding and cheered for Ceto, who was huffing with exhaustion after the exertion, while my opponent looked at the ground sullenly. I then recalled her amidst cheering from the stands and left the arena with a nervous smile on my face.

I immediately went to the Pokemon Center and healed my team. While I waited, I released Dante.

_All is well, I assume, J'Kun?_ He asked. I nodded.

"Well we won our first match," I told him, sitting down on a couch.

_That is good. But why, then, do you look troubled? _He inquired, standing before me.

"The match was close, Dante, and it was only our first one. I can only hope that we will win maybe one more, and it will be difficult to do so," I explained.

_If you think we will lose, then we will probably lose. We will still fight to the best of our abilities. If we lose, we lose together, _Dante said confidently but with a hint of melancholy.

"Thanks Dante. I just don't want to see any of you get severely injured or worse. These pokemon are the best and we only just finished the Circuit," I told him.

Dante seemed to think for a second before saying matter-of-factly, _Then don't let us get hurt. You have the power of confinement which means you have the power to stop injury from happening to us. If you don't want us to get hurt, then don't let us get hurt. _

I was taken aback by his bluntness. But I was grateful for it. "Thanks again Dante. I won't let you get hurt in the arena." Dante nodded, contentment reflecting from his face.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

It was the third day of the tournament and the second round of battling. I had a midday fight scheduled and I was having difficulty choosing who I would use. I was going to use Azrael because he was my strongest. But beyond that, I was trying to decide who my strongest team members were. I eventually decided to use Gilles because he could eliminate an element of battling by becoming incorporeal.

That left one more. Rufus and Ceto were special attack power houses, just in opposite elements, and Dante was a versatile melee pokemon. I did not want to use Lazarus because he was not as strong as the others on my team, and this was no place to bring out anyone but my best. Since I had used both Rufus and Ceto in the first battle, I decided to bring in Dante.

I watched the other battles in the meantime. I did not get to see the returning champion or Virgil battle, but I did see the champion's brother fight. His Garchomp had a devastating set of attacks, the most notable of which were Giga Impact, Stone Edge, and a nasty Crunch. That Garchomp was the only pokemon he used and it was vicious. It killed an Electivire by impaling it on the jagged end of a Stone Edge, and nearly did the same to a Hypno and an Arcanine.

My match was imminent, so I made my way down to the arena floor. I took my place across from a female trainer dressed in a pair of black shorts and a gray t-shirt. She looked familiar. Her screen showed her stats. **Naomi Baker ****– Age: 25. Profession: General Trainer. Badges: 16. Leagues completed: Indigo; Sinnoh. JIC Record: 2067 2****nd**** Place. Indigo Conference Record: 2073 First Round. Elite 4 Record: Victor over: 1****st**** Elite Cody Jayden. Nugget Bridge: N/A. Cinnabar Relay Finisher. Azure Melee Champion: March 2074, September 2074. **

Naomi sent a knowing smile my way before we released our starting pokemon. I started with Dante and Naomi started with a Medicham, another psychic-fighting mix. At the onset of the match we both used the same command: Double Team, and both of our pokemon split into multiple images. Dante split into five images and the Medicham into six.

What followed was a series of teleports that left me utterly confused and whiplashed. We had worked on Dante teleporting the rest of his images as well as himself when he teleported, so when he did, five images would appear at random at different locations around the field. The Medicham had also learned the same strategy, so every couple of seconds, six images of the Medicham would rearrange along with five of Dante.

There were only a few ways to tell which image was the true image for both of the teleporting pokemon, which I discovered through training. One way was the _pop _sound that only accompanied the true image. Another was that the real pokemon would appear about a quarter of a second earlier than his images. Knowing that, it was a joust to see which pokemon would react quickest.

Both pokemon had very fast reflexes, but Medicham landed the first hit. After it teleported, it quickly teleported only the real image to where it had identified Dante, and slammed the knife-edge of its palm into Dante's chin before back flipping away. As it did, I yelled, "Thunderwave! Then slash!"

Dante recovered quickly and let loose a wave of static that hit his opponent and staggered it for a few seconds. During that time, Dante ran up and sliced across its arm with his blade. The Medicham quickly teleported away to avoid a combo. There, it sent out a ball of shadow that Dante managed to dodge with a teleport. As he appeared next to the Medicham, it lashed out around itself in anticipation with a fist bathed in fire, but Dante's ability to occasionally foresee danger allowed him to twist and avoid the worst of the blow. The blow glanced off of Dante's chest but left an intense smoldering burn.

Dante's ball read his health at 15% and steadily dropping due to the fire. I knew that Dante could heal himself, but I also knew that the Medicham could as well. I also did not know how injured it was, so it was risky to give the order. Instead, I yelled, "Keep up the pressure! Don't let it heal! Psycho-Fury!"

The Medicham was only being minimally affected by the paralysis, which showed that it had been trained to resist it. Dante let loose a few psychic blades and then teleported behind the Medicham, where he unleashed a string of slices. The Medicham responded by blocking all of the blows from Dante's Fury Cutter, but was hit in the back by one of the Psycho Cuts.

When it seemed that Dante had the Medicham on the ropes, the Medicham changed the course of the battle. With its fists up in defense against Dante's blades, it leaned back, twisted, and swept Dante's feet from beneath him. As Dante fell to the ground, the Medicham used a powerful psychic force to add to Dante's momentum, and slammed him into the ground.

I immediately recalled Dante and tried to release Gilles before Naomi could give the order for the Medicham to heal. "Shadow Ball!" I roared, but not before the Naomi gave her Medicham the order to heal, and it started to carry out the order. The shadowy orb smashed into the psychic fighter and interrupted its process, during which time I was yelling, "Follow up with Shadow Sneak!"

Before the Medicham could retaliate, Gilles had used his shadow to teleport behind the fighter and bury his claws into its back, whereupon it fell to its knees and collapsed.

_One down,_ I thought. Naomi then released a pokemon I had never seen before. It was absolutely intimidating. Humanoid and standing at roughly nine feet tall – about the height of a Rhydon – its body was armor-plated and bulging with blades. Its head looked like it was covered by a helmet with a large blade protruding from the middle, two front-facing blades on its chest, and metal pincers on its hands with blades extending from the sides like Dante's.

Wracking my brain proved useless, for I had never seen or read about this pokemon. What I could immediately glean from observing it was that it was somewhat slow and was probably a steel-type pokemon judging by all of the metal encasing its body.

Logically, I yelled, "Will-o-Wisp!" to exploit its weakness to fire.

When Gilles was close enough to use his move, the behemoth lurched forward faster than I thought it capable and lashed out with its right blade arm, which was distorted by dark energy. The Night Slash ripped through Gilles as he poured the supernatural flames out of his mouth. Gilles shrieked as his body recoiled, but before he could retaliate or retreat, the behemoth let loose a pulse of darkness which enveloped Gilles. His shrieks abruptly stopped and I found that I could not recall him to his ball.

My heart skipped a beat, and I sighed in realization that I would need to do without Gilles for the time being and throughout the near future. He probably would not be too happy when he returned either. This left only one pokemon in my arsenal, and he announced his presence with a roar when he appeared before me.

Truth be told, I was nervous. I was down to my last pokemon and my opponent had another one. Her current pokemon was burning in the supernatural fire, but aside from that, it was none the worse for wear. Knowing the pokemon was steel, I stomped and slid my foot forward sideways.

Azrael charged into the ground and disappeared beneath the surface. The behemoth responded by tensing in place. Its metal armor hardened and it waited until Azrael burst from beneath the ground carrying a wave of earth with him.

The collision, which would have sent most creatures flying back, only pushed the behemoth back a few feet. When I yelled, "Follow up with Flamethrower," Azrael reared his head. At that moment, the behemoth lashed forward with a Metal Claw, catching Azrael under the jaw. Then it followed up with another to Azrael's stomach, causing him to flinch and curl reflexively. When he did, the behemoth crushed its metal helmet into the top of Azrael's head, cutting into his skull.

With absolutely no hesitation, I recalled Azrael immediately. When he successfully entered his pokeball, I breathed a sigh of relief, though my heart was still beating erratically in fear that my starter had almost been killed. I barely heard the melody of loud groans coming from the stands.

With my head hanging in defeat, I turned and left the arena. I stopped at the Pokemon Center to admit my injured team members. By my orders, I was required to return to my post as soon as I was able, so I could not stay to enjoy the rest of the tournament. But I was allowed to heal my team before I left.

While I waited, my opponent met me and extended a hand. "Told you you weren't _that _good, kid," she said smugly. "But you gave a better fight than I expected. And good on you for calling back your Garchomp when you did. That particular combo is a vicious one and has claimed a few lives in the past."

I recognized her then as the person I had beaten back home after she challenged me to a lower-level pokemon battle. Despite my bad mood at her beating me and her subsequent cocky attitude, I was intensely curious about the pokemon she had used against me. "So what _is _that pokemon exactly?" I asked.

"Oh, I guess that's a good question," she said. "It's a very rare pokemon called a Bisharp. Steel and dark types. Can take more of a beating than most and can dish out damage well, too."

"Interesting," I said. "Where did you find it?"

"Sinnoh," she said shortly. "When I was battling through their league. I got him as a Pawniard, and he was pretty vicious then, too."

"I can imagine…" I said listlessly.

"Hey, you aren't too far off from challenging an Elite, you know?" Naomi commented.

"Huh?" I said, drawn from my thoughts.

"Yeah, with a year or so of training, you could give a good fight to Elite Jayden," she said coolly. "You were able to beat one of my team – granted it was at the cost of one of your pokemon – but I think you will be up to my level pretty soon. Keep at it and give me a ring if you want a rematch someday." She then linked her PokeDex to mine and gave me her number. Then she said, "Good luck out there," and left.

I was left with my thoughts. I was flattered that Naomi believed me so capable. But more than anything else, I desired the pokemon she had used against me. I probably would not find myself in Sinnoh anytime soon, but I wanted to visit someday if only to track down a Bisharp.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Not more than a week later, Marcus and I stumbled upon a grisly scene. It was the third incident since I had started in which a fourth and fifth victim had been claimed by an Ursaring. Since multiple human victims had been found over the weeks under near-identical circumstances, we were forced to consider the possibility that a single or pack of pokemon were specifically targeting humans.

Before I had started, two other similar incidents had occurred in the C-sector of Route 9. In collaboration with the A, B, and D-sectors, we found that even more incidents had been reported. Ten incidents matching the ones that had happened in Sector C had taken place over the last two months; three in Sector A and two in Sector B. If they were all connected to a single pokemon or pack, then the perpetrators were heading steadily northwest along Route 9.

The newest bodies were a week or two old, so the trail was growing cold. At first, my team was not assigned to the investigation. The investigation was assigned to the B7 and B5 teams, one of which had a Granbull. B5 team knew much more about Ursaring and their natural behavior since they had already worked for multiple years in the Ranger Corps out in the wilderness, so they were the expected pick for the job.

They soon discovered that the Ursaring they were tracking did not follow normal behavioral patterns. For example, none of the berry bushes that they encountered along its trail were touched. Also, the tracks zigzagged in unpredictable ways. Normally, Ursaring will pick a direction and wander in that direction with gradual deviations until they come across a water source. Lastly, we occasionally found body parts of various forest pokemon along its path, as if it easily lost interest in its meal and left it behind.

The ranger teams noted that the footprints were much larger than normal Ursaring footprints. They were measured and compared to those at the other incident sites, and were found to be identical in size. This led to our theory that it was one very large and feral Ursaring attacking people; one that could survive an attack against multiple trained pokemon.

This theory only complicated things, because it meant that more than one team needed to deal with it, stretching our teams thin at the outpost. At the moment, we were down two teams, and the master sergeant wanted yet another team to aid the search. That would leave only four teams at the outpost, including the master sergeant and his partner.

Master sergeant Duval added my team to the search party. The reason why was because I had Dante and Marcus had Hypno. From the moment I got Dante, his ability to detect people and pokemon aside from dark-types had been constantly conditioned through hunting. Therefore, he was a very useful pokemon for the tracking team because he could psychically detect the Ursaring long before we might stumble upon it in surprise.

By the time we teamed up with the other two units, they had tracked the Ursaring northward to the point where Route 9 started curving directly east, and north past that point into the wilderness where our radio signal failed. Normally, we would not venture into the off-route wilderness, but the Ursaring was deemed too dangerous to be left alone. In situations like this, rangers try to catch the pokemon, but more often than not, the pokemon is killed.

We traveled above the forest on a mix of flying types, with the B5 unit leading. The Granbull led the way on the ground at a run. With the powerful tracking pokemon ran a Tauros, upon which sat Dante, who kept pace with the hound and allowed Dante to psychically scan the environment. Since we needed to return to the outpost once it grew too dark every day, our tracking time was limited. By the time we reached something conclusive after four days, our maps indicated that we had gone nearly 73 miles north of the route. It was there that the trail abruptly ended.

The large footprints were hectic at the end of the trail, near which was a tree trunk mangled with a single large gash of claw marks. The Granbull looked around itself in confusion, not comprehending why the scent trail was no longer there. We were all immediately on guard.

"Dante, can you sense the Ursaring nearby?" I asked, uneasy.

_I cannot, J'Kun_, was his response. I looked to Marcus who only shook his head and shrugged.

"Our psychics cannot sense the Ursaring," I told the other teams.

The declared leader, a man named Cory, then contemplated, "It must have been a trained pokemon. Nothing that big just disappears. The other option is it was somehow carried away. Judging by the size of the footprints, I would say the latter possibility is much less likely. Unfortunately, we may have a trainer, illegal or otherwise, who is either setting his pokemon loose on people intentionally, or turning a blind eye to its actions. The latter is more likely, though, since my Granbull did not pick up any other scents along the way. There is an easy way to test this," he explained, stroking the stubble on his chin. He had obviously been faced with these types of situations before and had developed some critical thinking skills.

"I need you to search around for any other tracks or scents from humans," he told his Granbull. The flat-faced hound-like pokemon immediately started searching while Cory radioed an update to the B7 team in the sky.

While the Granbull sniffed about, I heard Dante's voice in my head. _J'Kun, I cannot sense the Ursaring. But I _can _sense something else. I sense Yeshka. Multiple Yeshka farther to the north. _

I thanked Dante but waited to say anything to Cory until the Granbull was finished. After a brief moment, I decided to talk to Marcus though. "Marcus," I said quietly. He turned to look at me. "Does your Hypno sense anything else out here?"

Marcus raised an eyebrow. The Hypno heard my question and undoubtedly responded to it through Marcus. "No, man. Why? Is there something out here?" he asked, suddenly very nervous.

"Dante could sense people farther to the north," I told him, continuing to talk quietly.

"Out here? This far off the route?" he asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I used to train off the route, but I think it may be worth our while to visit them and see if they know anything, or to see how they are doing out here," I told him.

"Yeah, but what if they aren't friendly? Maybe they are off the route for a reason," he countered quietly.

"Then we have more of an obligation to check it out. It's our job, remember?" I said, growing a little irritated at his trepidation.

"I'm thinking more of the possibility that if they are training out here, we may not be able to handle them. We may need backup if that's the case. How many are there?" he asked.

_They are far away, J'Kun. I think there are five, but there may be more_, Dante answered in my mind.

I relayed the message and said, "You may be right, but I still want to see what they're up to. If they're doing nothing wrong, then they have nothing to fear. We're just stopping by to see how they're faring out here."

Marcus nodded very reluctantly. At about that time, the Granbull started making a raucous nearby. Where it was barking was a defined boot print in the damp dirt. The boot prints were also accompanied by a larger set of prints that looked to be talons. They both ended abruptly, but came from the southeast. We back-tracked the prints about half a mile to find that the same talon prints were dug in especially deep, as if it were a bird pokemon which had landed.

"Well that about settles it then," Cory said with an air of finality. "Once we get back, we will write a report and hand this off to detectives in the city. They will search for trainers with Ursaring and narrow down the options until they can figure out if the Ursaring belongs to a registered trainer." He then took out a pokeball and released a Staraptor, its wings immediately spreading and its large beak dipping aggressively towards me and Marcus. "Stop that. You know them well enough. We're all rangers," he admonished the large bird of prey, who simply shook its neck stubbornly.

The Staraptor was a magnificent pokemon. Despite the fact that I no longer felt the same fear for those kinds of dangerous pokemon while I had my own pokemon to defend me, I was still awed by their impressiveness. Before Cory could withdraw his collapsed saddle from his bag, I said, "Corporal Cory, I think you should know that my Gallade detected a group of people farther north."

"North? This far out?" he asked.

"Yes," I said frankly. "I think it might be a good idea to go pay them a visit. Maybe they were around when the Ursaring was. Or maybe the person who retrieved the Ursaring might even be among them. Either way, I don't think it would be a bad idea to at least check on them since we're so far from the route."

"That's not a bad idea. How far out are they?" Cory asked.

I looked to Dante and he gave me an estimate. "About two and a half miles north-northwest of here," I answered.

"Hmm, alright then," he said, fingering his stubble. "Two teams should be enough. I'll send B7 back to report back to the master sarge." He then radioed B7 team. "B7, you are to head back to the outpost to start the report. B15 found a group of people two and a half miles north-northwest of here. Mark it on your maps and inform Master Sergeant Duval that we have gone to pay them a visit. If we are not back by nightfall, send out a search party."

B7 affirmed the order and I watched them turn their mounts back the way we had come. "Mount up, B15. We're gonna fly there."

Marcus and I nodded and released our respective pokemon. Azrael appeared, and finding no immediate challenge, decided not to roar aggressively. I had been working on that with him as it was very disconcerting to people for a ranger's dragon to announce itself so fearfully. I patted him on the neck and equipped him with his saddle. Then the four of us rangers took off.

Flying at an easy pace, it took us about 15 minutes to arrive at our destination. We came upon an elevated mountain pass in which the dense forest gave way to a vast clear meadow at the foot of a large mountain peak, over which clouds coalesced. In the meadow was a small camp with four large tents. True to Dante's word, five people were lounging beside a fire at the center. However, the size of the tents indicated that there should be more people.

We landed about 30 feet from the camp to find them waiting for us curiously. An Electivire, a Golem, and a Poliwrath were spread out nearby, their bulky figures tensed defensively. The first thing I noticed when I dismounted was an unnaturally high level of static electricity in the air, which led me to eye the Electivire cautiously.

"Hello, officers," a woman greeted us in a peculiar accent. "Is there a problem?" The people did not seem very surprised to see us, or my enormous dragon.

"Not at all, ma'am," Cory replied. "Though, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask you all to return your pokemon to their balls."

"Not a problem," the woman said, signaling to others in the group. The pokemon quickly disappeared, but the static continued to linger. We relaxed a bit after there were no longer any threatening pokemon around. "What can I help you with?"

"We do not mean to alarm you, but we were tracking a dangerous pokemon a few miles south and we caught sight of your camp," Cory explained. "We came to see if you have had any trouble with larger pokemon. Also, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to know what you're doing out here. It's pretty dangerous out here and you've got quite an operation going on."

Without missing a beat, the woman answered, "Well to answer your first question, we haven't seen anything particularly dangerous since we've been out here."

"And how long has that been?" Cory asked.

"About a week now," the woman replied, turning her chin up in thought.

While Cory questioned the woman, I gazed around at the campsite. The people seemed a little too at ease, and a little too unaffected by our arrival. It was as if they had been expecting us. Most of the large tents were closed, but one of them was partially open. I snuck a peak from where I stood and saw an open crate of dynamite.

"To answer your second question," the woman continued. "We're mining for thunderstones. I'm sure you can feel the static in the air, yes?" The woman motioned around the area and Cory nodded. "That's due in part to a heavy concentration of the stones in the ground."

"Is that why you have dynamite?" I piped in.

The woman looked a little surprised, but she quickly glanced over at the tent where the flap was open and nodded. "Our Golem can do a lot, but dynamite is very helpful."

"What can dynamite do that a Golem can't?" I asked, unsatisfied. Cory shot me a disapproving look.

"Golem aren't exactly the smartest pokemon," the woman replied defensively. "They destroy rocks like none other, but they lack finesse. The dynamite is for controlled explosions that our Golem is incapable of replicating."

Still not satisfied but unable to find anything wrong, I fell silent. I then looked around the pass while Cory continued to ask some questions. "What's your deal, bro?" Marcus whispered.

"It's nothing," I told him.

"Didn't sound like nothing," Marcus said.

I repeated myself, making Marcus scowl. I continued to look around the pass for anything that might be out of place, but found none. Meanwhile, Cory was wrapping up. We had ascertained that the group of people was in no need of assistance and was not doing anything illegal. Before we took our leave, Cory gave them a word of warning not to incite anger in wild pokemon herds with the mining. Then we started walking southward.

"Next time we decide to check up on someone, mind being a little friendlier?" Cory asked me once we were out of earshot. He was clearly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I just feel like something is wrong with the whole thing," I said defensively. "They are way too unaffected by our arrival. Azrael's presence alone elicits a reaction, and there was none. They're hiding something."

"I think you've been spending way too much time thinking like a celebrity," Cory said impatiently. "Not everyone's going to recognize and swoon over you and your dragon."

"That's not what I mean!" I exclaimed angrily.

"Whatever," he waved me off. "So they weren't nervous about our arrival; so what? They aren't doing anything wrong, so why would they be? Just get back to the outpost. You can both use your psychics; my team doesn't need an escort."

"Alright," both Marcus and I said, me a little irritated. Then Marcus released Hypno and I released Dante. But before I ordered Dante to teleport me back to the outpost, I quietly told him to scan the immediate area for pokemon.

I was not surprised when Dante replied in mind, _There is a large owl at the edge of the forest to the south watching us. _

"Thought so. Alright, thank you Dante. Get us back to the outpost now," I ordered him. When we arrived, Marcus was returning his Hypno to its ball. "Just thought you should know," I told him, "there was a Noctowl watching us the whole time we were there."

"Huh, go figure. They had a lookout to warn them of anything approaching them in the wilderness," Marcus said, mockingly cynical. I opened my mouth to respond, but I could not think of anything, so I kept silent. "Why are you acting so weird, huh?"

"I just don't like it all. It felt off somehow, and I felt like they were hiding something," I said sheepishly.

"Well it's not like they are obligated to tell us their life stories. Just… Let it go and let's get on with our lives, yeah?" Marcus said, obviously tired of the conversation. "We gotta report to the master sarge anyway."

"Right." After a couple hours, Cory's team finally returned to finish their portion of paperwork over the Ursaring hunt. Wanting to separate myself from the day's events, I committed myself whole-heartedly to training with Dante in resisting teleportation. It was then that I made a significant breakthrough.

I was not in the mood for pitting my mind against Dante's to lessen the effects of his teleports, so I made a much more concerted effort to look at the process differently in order to make practice less tiresome. Thinking back to the previous accounts of successful teleportation resistors, I tried to perceive the act of resisting teleportation like the act of resisting telepathy.

However, I found it much easier to relate the process to the explanations and mental images provided by Dante. Even then, though, they had to be applied to my entire body instead of simply my mind. My mind was the most important aspect, of the process, but my body needed to follow.

It ultimately came back to Dante's notion of a dark well in which information could fall, but out from which only I was in control of what could be fished. The base concept was to create a void where only I controlled the passage of information. To expand the concept to teleportation, the void needed to apply to my entire body.

Enemy teleporters use their minds to teleport an object or person, which is why I had been so focused on resisting through willpower. The base concept that the mind is a channel through which the body follows needed to connect to the concept of the void. So, I connected the two by visualizing the void encompassing my body as an abstract cloud that could not be grabbed onto by a psychic force. Another way I envisioned it was by visualizing my entire body in the well, instead of just my mind.

After nearly an hour of meditation on my new point of view, I started testing it out against Dante. The first two attempts yielded no results, but I felt like something was happening while I tried, so I kept making attempts. On my third attempt, Dante teleported me about ten feet to the left. Given that he was trying to teleport me one mile to the left, that attempt was a significant feat which I considered a success.

Needless to say, I was filled with a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm. There were some drawbacks, though. I needed to be completely focused on the task. I quickly found out that if I was distracted at all, the process would fail. The process was also exhausting. After the third attempt, I was sweating and out of breath.

By the time I went to bed that night, I had managed to resist Dante's teleports enough to only be moved a foot or two. However, I was still struggling immensely with distracting stimuli. The first time I only moved one foot to the side, Fred came out of the shadows and slapped me on the back in congratulation, throwing me off for the next attempt.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Another few days passed, during which time Gilles returned from the dead and announced his presence by waking me up in the middle of the night with a giggle in my ear. One day, I was taking a break from training outside when I was quickly approached by my commanding officer. "Corporal, I need your team to report to the coordinates I'm sending you right now," Master Sergeant Duval told me. "B7 has reported that a comms tower is under attack and has requested backup. I'm assigning your team, so hurry and teleport out there."

"Yes, sir," I replied. I hurried to find Marcus, who was outside training with his pokemon. "Suit up, we need to leave ASAP! Comms tower is under attack and we're backup."

"Right!" Marcus replied and recalled all of his pokemon except for his Hypno.

I showed him the coordinates and we teleported away. We arrived to find B7 team in the heat of battle. The communications tower, which was under siege, rose into the sky almost 200 feet, being supported by unsightly steel columns and beams. On those beams hung dozens of Mankey and Primeape. Some were slamming their fists into the steel. Some were screeching down at the commotion on the ground. And others were screeching at the airborne members of B7 team, who were performing flybys, ripping them from the beams and flinging them away.

On the ground were more Primeape accompanied by a horde of Machoke and a couple Machamp. Some of the Machoke were pounding on the support beams while many others were engaged with B7. A Scyther and a Nidorina were fighting a Machoke and a Machamp in front of one of the members of B7. A Nidorino and a Vaporeon were battling three other Machoke in front of the other member of B7. A Pidgeotto, a Pidgeot, and a Fearow were flying around the tower.

I looked at Marcus and said, "Get Rath up there to help the other fliers. Have Hypno back up the man on the left, and then use Leif and Snapjaw. Try to focus on the Machamp." Marcus nodded and ran forward to the left. I ran forward to the right while releasing a few of my own pokemon.

"Dante, take out that Machamp directly in front of us. Grab-n-Cut," I told my Gallade. I released Gilles and told him, "Take out the monkeys on the tower." Then I released Saraph and told her the same thing, but I added, "Do NOT damage the tower. And do NOT attack the other flying pokemon! You will stay in your pokeball next time if you do!"

Saraph snorted two jets of flame from her nostrils and took off with a delighted roar. I then released Rufus and Lazarus, and told them, "Engage the pokemon up ahead. Keep them from attacking us. Rufus, Flamethrower, and if they get too close, Fire Blast. Lazarus, use a steady stream of Thunderbolts." They gave yowls of affirmation and leapt forward.

Lastly, I released Ceto and said, "I need you to stay with me and snipe some of the monkeys on the tower. Also, be ready to fire on anything else at a moment's notice if I tell you."

Ceto nodded and kept up with me as I ran. I chose to keep Azrael in his ball because he had a higher likelihood of damaging the tower than protecting it due to his ground-based moveset, and because of his size and strength. At least Saraph could maneuver much more agilely in the air to prevent herself from colliding with the tower.

Rufus and Lazarus ran until they were ten feet from the group of Machoke and Primeape. When they stopped, Rufus let out a steady stream of fire that washed over the group while Lazarus sent bolt after bolt of electricity surging through their ranks. By that time, Dante had psychically beaten down the Machamp and had moved on to another one.

It was incredibly difficult to manage all of my team. It required them to have a lot of independence because in order for me to give orders to one, I needed to take my attention away from another. When I was not watching over Rufus and Lazarus, I was watching Gilles, Saraph, Dante, or the other rangers. When I saw one of the ranger's teams faltering, I would tell Ceto to send a Hydro Pump or an Ice Beam to help. Then I would tell her to return to sniping Mankey and Primeape.

Saraph did surprisingly well, all things considered. She managed not to damage the tower, but she breathed fire over the beams a few times which was not ideal. She also became competitive at one point with B7 team's Pidgeot when it drew near and took out a Mankey that Saraph had her eye on. She snapped at it, but the Pidgeot was faster than her and avoided her bite, albeit with a begrudging shriek and a subdued Iron Wing which knocked the dragon silly.

Surprisingly, she did not vengefully pursue the large bird of prey. Instead, she took out her anger on the various fighting-type monkeys that fell to her grasp. Many were violently thrown to the ground or torn asunder once she grabbed them from the beams in her claws.

While I gave my team orders, I occasionally fired an arrow from my bow and I occasionally threw a pokeball to catch a weakened foe. I had ten unused pokeballs on me, and I used six of them. Out of those, I successfully caught two Primeape, one Machamp, and one Machoke.

With my squad's help, B7 reestablished control of the situation in less than ten minutes. In all, only five pokemon from our teams were rendered unconscious. B7's Pidgeotto was taken out by a few Primeape that leapt onto it from the tower's beams. Marcus's Meganium was overrun at one point, and in spite of multiple ranger pokemon coming to his aid, he was knocked out. Same with Marcus's Hypno. Multiple Primeape and Machoke decided to rush her and she could not withstand the barrage of their fighting moves.

Lastly, B7's Nidorina and Vaporeon were knocked out in the heat of the battle, but were replaced with a Manectric and a Rapidash. In the end, we were easily able to drive away the horde of fighting pokemon. Once all of the Machamp and about half of the Primeape had fallen, small parts of the horde started gradually retreating. It did not take long for the rest of the horde to follow suit.

When the last of the conscious horde had fled the tower, we allowed ourselves to take a breath. Nearly 50 pokemon lay dead and more were unconscious, not to mention the injured who had escaped. I used my remaining four pokeballs and caught an additional two Machamp and two Machoke who were unconscious, while the other rangers followed suit.

Then we took note of the damages to the tower. We took pictures and made note of significant damages to send to the League for commissions of repair. Since the process was streamlined and efficient, there were engineers and construction workers out the very next day. And while they worked, my squad patrolled nearby for their defense. Aside from some territorial rodent pokemon, there were no significant threats that we needed to deal with.

When we finished, we returned to the outpost for dinner and transported our pokemon to a Pokemon Center for healing. I also deposited my new pokemon into PokeCryo until I could return to the city and sell them to the Pokemon Trader's Guild.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

A few days later, I received a surprise and unwelcomed guest. I was training as usual when I heard, "What a surprise. Training. Do you know anything else?" A couple of my pokemon stopped training and looked over with foul expressions, most notable of which was Azrael's curled lip and low growl.

I looked for the voice to find Alex standing nearby with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Without missing a beat, I went back to my training. "What do you want?" I said, not looking at him.

"Is that anyway to treat an old friend?" he asked mockingly.

"Cut the bullshit, Alex. What do you want?" I demanded impatiently.

"Mmm, just as much of a delight as you used to be," he said with a tsk. "I just wanted to stop by because we're going to be working together soon. We could use a little teambuilding pow wow of sorts."

"That's the last thing we need. After this mission, we'll have nothing more to do with one another," I replied tersely.

"Oh, but don't you think we could use a little prep for the mission?" he asked, still using a sarcastic, mocking tone.

"I'm busy, and any _prep _you could offer me wouldn't be worth my time," I said.

"Temper temper. You should see someone about that," Alex replied.

"What, like League Rehab? Are they any good? I'm sure you know a LOT about that by now," I said coldly.

Alex visibly stiffened and lost his jovial sarcasm in lieu of cold contempt. "We have unfinished business."

"No, we have _no _business, Alex," I told him, finally turning to face him. "At some point you are just going to have to accept that you are not as good of a trainer as I am. And besides, while you were atoning for your crimes against your _own _pokemon, I was helping mine get better and better. I'm miles higher than you are. But that is all beside the point. You were given rehab for doing what you're doing right now! You need to find something better to do with your time than stalking me."

"All high and mighty as per fuckin' usual," he said angrily. "At least you were taken down a notch at the Indigo Conference."

"Sure I was, but I made it through one round of the Indigo Conference on my first try, and that's pretty damn impressive. And I lost to a very talented opponent with an Elite 4 win under her belt," I said plainly. I have the courage and self-awareness to acknowledge my own shortcomings, and that is something you will never comprehend. "There is no comparison whatsoever to be drawn between my failures and your own. For example, you're so obsessed with beating one person that you mutated and mutilated one of your own team, and _still _lost miserably. And even though you have done your time for your crimes, you are still rotten to the core, and you are clearly no less of a failure now then you were back then. You have no right talking to me about failing, because your entire life, and your entire pokemon training career, have been a failure!"

My words seemed to have affected him to the core. He was pale and shaking in front of me. I felt like I never disliked anyone so much. And despite that, I felt bad after that insult. But not so bad as to rescind my offense. I knew that my words were meant to maim and injure, but Alex had done nothing to earn any sympathy from me.

A Machamp appeared in front of him as his paled, injured expression turned to fury. "Jericho, Sky Uppercut!" he screamed in anger, pointing at me.

"Dante!" I called, and he appeared in front of me. "Psycho-Throw!"

Dante's eyes lit up and he sent three psychic blades hurtling towards the charging Machamp. Then he teleported behind it and sent a powerful Psychic technique slamming into its back, propelling it into the psychic blades. The Machamp was hit by all three. Blood sprayed from three open wounds, but the Machamp was not defeated. It turned around and sent a focused blast of energy which hit Dante in his center. He was not hurt by it, though.

"Again!" I ordered, and Dante repeated his attack. The Machamp fell after the second round, six wide gashes leaking blood onto the ground.

Alex furiously recalled the Machamp and sent out a Xatu. "Nero, Air Slash!" The Xatu teleported into the sky and unfolded its wings as it fell, catching air to keep it afloat. Then it sent a gust of wind as a knife-edge streaming towards Dante, who teleported out of the way.

"Teleport to him and Night Slash," I commanded, and Dante teleported himself into the air right next to the psychic bird, whereupon he sliced his arm blade horizontally, distorting it with dark energy. Dante's blade ripped into the bird and caused it to fall out of the sky; a one-hit K.O.

Dante teleported back to the ground and landed as if he had used no effort. Next, an Azumarill appeared and he yelled, "Ice Beam, Mimi!"

The large water rodent released an icicle that hit Dante in the thigh, but he was already given orders from me. He had released a bolt of thunder less than a second before he was hit that struck the Azumarill in the center of its mass, knocking it out instantly. Alex's team must have been much, much lower in level than mine, because they were not putting up much of a fight.

Alex thumbed another pokeball in his hand but seemed to rethink it. He put it back and just glared at me. I only stared back in mock pity.

"Just like your Pokemon, Alex, you are weak and undisciplined. Did you _really _think this was going to turn out any different than every time previously? Perhaps you will have a chance at beating me if you develop the intelligence and maturity to learn from your mistakes. Until then, save your strength for opponents who are a better match for your skill set, because my pokemon don't need target practice."

"Fuck you!" he said, seething. He then reached into his pocket for his wallet.

"I don't want your money, Alex. Just know that if you continue to stalk me, I will file a restraining order against you. After we are finished with our mission, I don't ever want to see you again. Do you understand me?"

Alex put away his wallet and glared at me more. "One day-"

"Just save it!" I interrupted him. "You will never amount to anything in life and you will never come close to defeating me, so why don't you spare me the bluster and find someone else to annoy. Now get lost before I arrest you for assaulting a League official!" I ordered him, finally pulling my League card.

Alex opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. Then he closed it, put his wallet in his pocket, and started walking away. I returned to my training without a second thought. But before long, Alex called out, "I look forward to working with you!"

After that he disappeared down the trail. I scoffed and continued my training.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Expert Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979E; Corporal, Ranger Corps.**

**Active Pokemon: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

Lazarus – Electabuzz

**Pokemon in Preparation:**

Saraph – Charizard

**Appropriated Pokemon:**

Fred – Dusclops

**Trainer: Marcus Bradford; KA734PE349; Private First Class, Ranger Corps.**

**Active Pokemon:**

Snapjaw – Blastoise

Leif – Meganium

Shiv – Weavile

Hypno – Hypno

Ironhide – Rhyhorn

Rath – Pidgeotto

**Pokemon in Preparation:**

Magnemite – Magnemite

Author's Note: Hey everyone. Couple things. One, I know it probably does not seem like it, due to me using psychics a lot, but they are supposed to be relatively rare. And second, so Pokemon Go is a thing now. Such a thing. Things are awesome. But anyway, stuff is progressing so please leave me a note! Thank you to everyone who is reviewing thus far.


	30. Chapter 30: New Responsibility

Chapter 30

"This is Brian Howards with CCN News. At approximately 8:45 this morning, multiple entrances of the Seafoam Islands collapsed from a set of explosions which produced a smoke cloud visible for tens of miles. The islands are now under military and League control. No one, civilian or pokemon trainer, is allowed within the islands, which are now subject to a full investigation. The Cinnabar Gym is now closed to challenges until further notice while Leader Zayden works with other League officials to bring the situation under control. Local rangers are unsure as to the cause of the explosion, but sources say that the Triumvirate are at fault. We go live now to Cindy Mayer in Cinnabar City."

"Thank you Brian." The camera switched to a view of a reporter in front of a police roundup inside a refugee camp in Cinnabar City. "The scene here is hectic as known members of the Triumvirate are being taken into custody. Is there proof that the Triumvirate are behind the incidents in the Seafoam Islands?" she asked a police officer who was standing guard.

"We have no comment at this time," he replied sternly.

"What evidence does the police department have that implicates the Triumvirate?" she pressed.

"We have no comment," he repeated.

Cindy looked back at the camera, giving up her impromptu interrogation. "Our sources say that members of the Triumvirate have been hinting at an attempt to wake the legendary Articuno, which is fabled to reside in the Seafoam Caverns. Our researchers have found that the Triumvirate believes the mighty birds of legend will come to their country's aid against Hoenn once awakened. We can only speculate at this point, but motives point to the Triumvirate. Back to you, Brian."

"Thank you Cindy," he said. "CCN News will continue to track this story as it progresses."

"Holy shit man," Marcus remarked incredulously. "I wonder how Will, Garey, and Vince are doing?"

"No kidding. And good question," I told him. I took out my PokeDex and typed out a message. We were eating lunch in the barracks in front of a television screen. It was half a month later in the middle of July, and my job as a ranger had not become any easier. Every few days were fraught with pokemon attacks requiring our response, extreme weather to monitor, and trainer conflicts to mediate. Furthermore, every night I trained with Dante to hone my ability to resist teleporting and telepathy. Progress was slow since I could not seem to get past my imperfect understanding of counter-teleportation.

Dante stayed vigilant with me, though. I learned that he did indeed have a more difficult time teleporting me anywhere. But the upside to that fact was that his teleporting ability was regularly conditioned more intensely, and therefore developing more quickly. So while most of my pokemon drilled to develop various skills, Dante and I helped each other.

My PokeDex lit up with a couple message notifications, one from Vince and one from Garey. They each told me that they were not directly involved with the goings-on in Cinnabar, but that several A-designated teams in their precincts had been transferred to the Seafoam Islands or to Cinnabar City. They could give no other information beside that. I relayed that information to Marcus, who only cursed in frustration.

Despite the Hoenn Sevii war happening far away from Kanto, we were still being affected by it. I only wished I could do more to help.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

During the month of July after the Ursaring trail went cold, my life returned to its normal pace. Occasionally, Marcus and I responded to distress calls in which hikers needed help against wild pokemon. In one incident, we needed to repel a Mightyena and its pack of Poochyena from a small group of travelers. Other times we simply patrolled and trained. Fortunately, we never needed to gather a response team to a pokemon horde attack.

I also kept in touch with my parents and Sheila. My mother and father were still making progress with the Infernal Competitors, and Sheila had not only adapted well with Gym Leader Buell's gym, but she had also been establishing herself as one of the more gifted trainees.

One week before the end of the month, Elite McGall showed up at the outpost to evaluate my progress. After I told him about my breakthrough, he wanted proof. I released Dante to demonstrate, but he instructed his Alakazam, Balthazar, to teleport me five miles south.

I focused on my training, and traveled only three feet when Balthazar teleported me. The 3rd Elite looked pleased at this, but Balthazar seemed slightly perturbed. A quick look from his master assuaged him, and his demeanor changed to one of silent meditation.

"I'm curious," the Elite said, stroking his chin. "You said you made a breakthrough about a week and a half ago. What happened?"

After I told him how I managed to change my point of view, I mentioned that we had stumbled upon the group of people which had put me off, indirectly resulting in the change in my thinking. This he found particularly interesting for some reason. I told him roughly where we had encountered the people, and he stiffened up. "What was off about them?" he asked me.

I told him about the dynamite and the Noctowl sentry, to which he told me sternly, "I need you to lead me to where you found them immediately."

"Yes, sir," I replied, surprised. "I'll grab my partner. What's the matter?"

He ignored my question at first and released a Xatu, and then seemed to have a silent conversation with it. The psychic bird nodded and disappeared. The Elite then turned back to me and said with a furrowed brow, "Hopefully nothing. Meet me out front A.S.A.P.. I'll talk to your C.O."

I saluted him and ran to find Marcus. _J'Kun, that Yeshku seemed very disturbed by your words_, Dante told me.

"Yeah, he did. Can you not sense why?" I asked him.

_He is kin to my kind, and he keeps his mind shielded like we do from other psychics_, he replied. I gave a disappointed sigh and found Marcus, who was relaxing in the lounge in between shifts. "Get your shit, Marcus. Elite McGall wants us outside asap."

"_Elite McGall_!?" he exclaimed, getting to his feet. "What the hell?"

"Just do it. We're going back to the clearing where we found that group of miners with the dynamite a week and a half ago," I told him.

Marcus gave me a disbelieving look, but he still followed me to the barracks to collect some of our gear. We met outside the barracks soon thereafter. The Xatu was back and was having another mental conversation with the Elite. When the Elite saw Marcus and me arrive, he concluded the conversation and returned the Xatu to its ball.

"Let's make haste. Take me to the area you found the group of miners in," the Elite ordered.

Marcus and I nodded before we teleported away. We arrived at the mountain pass after a few jumps each, and then we sent a GPS signal to the Elite who arrived shortly thereafter. We were a few hundred feet from the campsite, which had been maintained, but the Elite did not approach. He peered around for a few minutes, not saying a word, while Balthazar's eyes lit up a brilliant purple.

"Shit!" the Elite cursed. "The camp is empty. Except for…" Balthazar disappeared and the Elite gazed far to the east. I looked over the tree line to see a large bird rising into the sky and a bright yellow flashing light racing across the meadow. Dante informed me that the bird might be the same one he had sensed during our previous visit.

Marcus and I watched on as the Noctowl rose higher, but then seemed to hit an invisible ceiling. It stopped mid-flight and plummeted to the ground. The flashing light zipping across the meadow then inexplicably stopped moving, though a large spark showered around it and a _crash! _sounded as it suddenly halted.

I looked to my side to see that Elite McGall's face was a stone statue of focus. Then I looked back to see the flashing light being whipped around violently in the distance. Suddenly it disappeared, and reappeared 50 feet in front of us next to Balthazar. His eyes were glowing purple and he was showing no emotion. In front of him was a bloodied Jolteon, lying in the grass breathing heavily.

"Excellent work, Balthazar," the Elite remarked. "Now find out what he knows."

Balthazar's eyes lit up, and he touched one of his metallic idols to the electrical fox's forehead. The Jolteon seemed to seize up, but after a few seconds, Balthazar removed his idol and looked up to Elite McGall. The Elite nodded after another few seconds and said, "That figures. Put her down." Then the Elite turned to me and Marcus.

Before the Elite said anything, the Jolteon's head jerked to the side with an efficient _crack_! I heard Marcus gasp beside me. "Thank you both for leading me here. It turns out we have a situation. But I don't expect you to deal with it, so hold on one second."

He released his Xatu and held a brief quiet conversation before it disappeared. He then waited impatiently for a few minutes before the Xatu returned, whereupon another silent conversation took place. It was a little frustrating not knowing what was going on, so I shuffled in place impatiently.

The Elite's brow furrowed angrily and he exclaimed, "Well this is just fucking great! It looks like I won't be getting back-up!" He angrily recalled the Xatu while muttering under his breath, "Handle it!? Busy, my ass! What could the Champion possibly be doing that's more important? It's _his_ fucking responsibility!"

Marcus and I exchanged nervous looks. "Well, change of plans you two," the Elite told us. "You are now going to be accompanying me. Due to the sensitive nature of this situation, I will only let you know what you _need_ to know. Moreover, I am not able to draw upon more rangers as a resource. We have a group of 15 people attempting to raise hell on that mountain, there," he told us, pointing to the mountain in the far north. Clouds still seemed to congregate above its peak.

"I am obligated to inform you that your responsibility towards your country as a military unit is hereby being invoked," the Elite continued, drawing another nervous gasp from Marcus. "These people must be dealt with. And since they pose a risk to national security, they must be dealt with swiftly and decisively. Taking them prisoner is not a priority. Stopping them is, so you are authorized and encouraged to use lethal force. I was not able to stop a dark type messenger from escaping, so they will know we are coming. Any questions?"

"Yes, sir," I said quickly. "Why can't we call for other rangers? If this is a matter of national security, then shouldn't-"

"That is classified," he interrupted me. "You are operating under my authority, which has been verified by Champion Volker. You are now a part of a sensitive mission in which speed and discretion are mandatory. We will cover the specifics at its conclusion."

"Sir, I know you said that taking them alive is not a priority, but if we get the chance…" Marcus chimed in.

"It would be prudent to take their life," the Elite responded, interrupting him as well. "You are soldiers of the Ranger Corps for the purpose of this mission. The people we are eliminating are enemies of the nation who will not be given any quarter. Do you understand? We're wasting time."

"Yes sir," Marcus said resignedly. He looked like he was not looking forward to this. Personally, I was both nervous and intrigued by the secrecy around this mission. The Elite had mentioned the Champion, and he thought that the Champion had a responsibility to deal with this. So, it must be a very important mission.

"Let's go, then. Teleport to the base of the mountain," the Elite ordered us. We obeyed, and Dante teleported me there. At the base of the mountain, the static electricity in the air was almost tangible, lifting our hair.

Marcus unleashed his Pidgeotto when we arrived, but the Elite said, "You won't be needing your flyer. The static in the air is too treacherous for birds this close to the mountain. We will be going through it, through the tunnels that were made by our targets. The static electricity will be minimal inside the mountain." As the Elite spoke, he led us to an opening in the side of a steep hill which had electrical wiring running along the wall and which led from an outside generator.

The Elite looked inside the opening and at the wiring. "Do any of you have an electric-type pokemon?" he asked.

"I do. An Electabuzz," I answered.

"That's perfect, actually. This generator provides power to the lights, and it can be powered by an electric pokemon," he said, pointing to the small metal machine sitting beside the entrance. "Your Electabuzz can charge the generator to give us some light inside."

I agreed and released Lazarus while returning Dante, and then I pointed to the generator and asked him to power it up. Lazarus nodded, walked up to it, and placed both of his hands on two nodes. His hands glowed and electricity surged from them into the machine. Whirring sounded for a second before the lights flickered on inside the entrance.

As we were entering, the Elite turned to us and said, "One pokemon each. The mine is fairly narrow and we don't want to be all bunched up so keep them small and fast. McAfee, I would keep your Electabuzz out. He can power generators and he can intercept and absorb electricity. I will have Balthazar, here, lead the way. Bradford, if you have a dark-type pokemon or a ghost, that would also be a plus."

"I have a Weavile," Marcus said, and the Elite nodded.

"That's perfect," Elite McGall said. "Small, fast, able to see in the dark, and can negate teleporting. Inform your pokemon of our mission now before we start and ready your weapons. Also, if you need to switch out your pokemon, I must ask you to refrain from using your psychics. I don't need rookie psychics accidentally mentally interfering with my team and I don't have the time to explain how their teleportation skills will be nearly useless here."

Marcus and I obeyed and relayed our instructions to our pokemon. Lazarus nodded, but he had a somewhat nervous demeanor. Never before had we undertaken a mission where we were specifically ordered to eliminate people. But that was the job we had signed up for. The Ranger Corps is not a strictly pacifistic organization.

I was also very nervous and uncertain. The amount of blatant secrecy was unnerving, and the fact that psychics would be nearly useless, with no explanation about why, did not help.

With the 3rd Elite of Kanto leading the way, we entered the mine. It looked to be around eight feet in height, and about the same in width. The path also had a noticeable incline to it from the very beginning.

Just as the Elite had mentioned before, the static died down considerably once we entered the tunnel. But it never fully went away. There were few wooden support beams for the most part, and the walls and ceiling looked to be densely packed in. There were areas where the tunnel leveled out, though, and in those areas were support beams, and sometimes benches and chairs. Also in every one of those areas was a new generator that supplied light for the next 500 feet, even if the slope stretched farther than that. There, the Elite told us, "By the looks of it, there are multiple generators so that smaller portions of the mine can be powered instead of the entire thing."

One thing I specifically noticed about the Elite that confused me was the fact that he did not carry a weapon. He only held a couple golf ball-sized pebbles in his hand. At first, the tunnel bore through dirt, but it gradually changed to denser rock. Also, the incline gradually steepened. I was starting to sweat by the time we entered the fourth horizontal area, and it was after we had gone at least a mile that things started to get dangerous.

We were nearly halfway between the seventh and eighth checkpoints, which were mostly dug through dense rock, when the Elite exclaimed urgently, "Stop! Move back!"

Marcus and I recoiled backwards with our pokemon just in time to feel the ground shudder. From further up the mineshaft a large boulder seemed to fling itself down the incline towards us. It was large enough to leave only about a foot of space between it and the walls on either side. It also sped down the slope unnaturally fast.

The fact that the enormous boulder was a pokemon hit me right as it reached about five feet in front of Balthazar. At that point, the Golem jerked to a sudden and jarring halt as if it hit an impenetrable wall. I could see the hole where its head was tucked in its nearly impervious shell, revealing darkened scales from its scalp.

The next set of events jarred me. I remembered from my school days that a Golem's shell is so heavy, dense, and hardened that it can withstand nearly any force, including jackhammers and other industrial mining tools. But even with this incredible trait, the Golem halted as if it weighed nothing. Then it slammed into the rock wall to the left, then into the wall to the right, and then left again where it looked like pieces of the ceiling were dropping onto it. But in reality, pieces of rock were being blasted away from the Golem's shell. The Golem was being wracked with a psychic force over and over again, and each time a chunk of its shell blasted away.

During the brutal psychic pummeling, I saw Balthazar's eyes lighted up like brilliant purple flash lights, and his metal idols were jerking to the side in rhythm with each invisible impact. Eventually, enough of the shell around the Golem's head was blasted away that its face was exposed. At that point, the Golem's head extended and then twisted 360 degrees around with a loud _CRACK!_

The Golem's head fell limp and the Elite's Alakazam teleported us to the other side of its corpse where Marcus and I exchanged incredulous looks. As soon as everyone was on the other side of the Golem, it started rolling down the mineshaft at a rate consistent with gravity, leaving pieces of its ultra-dense shell behind.

"Keep alert," the Elite told us, looking over his shoulder. "There will no doubt be more attempts to either stop or slow us down." Marcus and I both nodded, still in shock at the display of power.

True to the Elite's word, we found more trouble shortly thereafter. We passed the eighth area of leveled ground, then the ninth. During the slope thereafter, the lights cut out. I immediately ordered Lazarus to use Flash, and he started to glow in response, lighting up the area with his fur.

"Good," commented Elite McGall. "Now watch our backs! Balthazar senses multiple incoming."

I turned around to look down the tunnel, and I was able to see two figures moving towards us rapidly. One was moving along the wall and the other was running along the floor. They were about 30 feet away when I recognized what they were and said to Marcus, "Gliscor and Linoone incoming! You got the Gliscor, I have the Linoone!"

Marcus quickly responded in the affirmative and ordered his Weavile to attack the Gliscor. "Lazarus, focus blast that weasel!" I ordered, and just as the two attackers entered the fray, they were hit. The Linoone was hit hard by the focused blast of energy from Lazarus, and Marcus's Weavile zipped towards the gliding Gliscor in a quick attack.

The Linoone was flung back with a shriek and the Gliscor fell from the wall. They both recovered quickly, though. The Linoone teamed up with the Gliscor in an attempt to quickly take care of the Weavile by trying to body slam it from the side, but I had ordered Lazarus to continue to unleash the ranged fighting move. The Gliscor followed up with an acrobatic swoop from the ground that hit Marcus's Weavile Shiv with its tail, and Shiv was thrown against the wall.

Lazarus's blast hit the Linoone and it was thrown back, where it lay unmoving. Meanwhile, Shiv had recovered from the hit and was dancing around the large winged scorpion-like pokemon, striking out with devastating, super-fast claws. The Gliscor held its own, though, blocking some of the attacks on its hardened shell and responding with claw attacks of its own.

"Get in there and use your melee skills!" I ordered Lazarus. "Low Kick and Rock Smash while it can't fly out of reach." Lazarus shot forward towards the fight to join in, but I heard a snarl behind me and heat on my back. I looked back to see a wall of fire in front of Balthazar. A vicious dragon stood before him, but the flames were being stopped in mid-air about five feet from Balthazar's face. The dragon - a lithe Flygon - was moving towards the Alakazam with a steady stream of fire pouring from its maw.

I was forced to look away when I heard Marcus curse. "Shit! Ice Claw, Shiv!" he screamed. The Gliscor had managed to pick up Shiv and take her to the ceiling just beyond Lazarus's range.

The Gliscor was readying its tail to jab into her body when I yelled, "Lazarus, Focus Blast!" Lazarus punched into the air and hit the non-moving Gliscor, whereupon it dropped Shiv, who slashed out on her way down. Her long claws drew bloody rends filled with icicles and the Gliscor dropped onto the floor with a squish.

Through all of the brouhaha I heard a foreign voice call out, "Dragon Rush!" I looked back just in time to see the Flygon, who was bleeding from its nostrils, rush down the hall extremely fast. It crashed into Balthazar's barrier, which appeared only two feet in front of the psychic. The force of the attack drove Balthazar back, almost hitting McGall, who disappeared and reappeared ten feet back between Marcus and me.

Balthazar continued to be driven back by the sheer brute strength of the earth dragon, but he slowed to a halt two feet from us. "Move!" the Elite yelled at us, and we started running back down the incline. I peered over my shoulder as I ran to see the dragon's head jerk up and slam into the ceiling. It quickly spun around in response, swinging its tail. But the tail hit a barrier over Balthazar, one foot away from his head this time. Balthazar's right idol flipped end over end above his hand, and a psychic blade severed the Flygon's tail.

The Flygon roared in agony and spun its head back around. The bright flash of a hyper beam shone and quickly blasted towards Balthazar, whose barrier blocked it. The force of the blast drove him back more and sent jarring reverberations down the mineshaft, and Balthazar's barrier flickered out of existence. The psychic fox countered with a heavy psychic punch to the dragon's head once more. The dragon's head smashed into the wall to the left, where it became lodged in the wall. Without hesitation, Balthazar sent another psychic blade slashing across the dragon's exposed neck. A deep wound opened up and blood poured out onto the rock floor.

The dragon struggled for a few seconds, managing to dislodge itself before lethargy overtook it and it slumped against the floor twitching. Marcus and I stopped running and looked on as the psychic Elite moved. Even with the small light provided by Lazarus's glowing fur, I was able to see about 70 feet up the mineshaft where a man was turning to run.

In an impressive display of force, the Elite threw one of his pebbles. An unnatural force took hold over the rock and carried it at the speed of a bullet. The pebble hit the back of the man's head with _thwack! _and a _crack! _which echoed down the passage. "Go back and check where they flanked us from!" the Elite ordered.

We complied and on our way back, I said to Marcus, "I don't know how, but he just killed a man from over 50 feet away with a thrown rock…" He seemed to look both shocked and impressed by the very concept, but kept silent. When we reached the next checkpoint, we looked around to find a hole in the wall around three feet wide. "They came in through a hole in the wall!" I yelled back to the Elite.

"Alright, then let's keep moving!" he yelled back. We ran to catch back up, and when we did, Balthazar no longer stood next to the Elite. In his place was a skinny Gardevoir. "That was a very well-trained dragon. But if we're lucky, it was the best they had to throw against us. Few pokemon can hold their own against Balthazar, and its trainer turned to run which meant that he did not have any stronger pokemon. But still, be on your guard. We will probably surprise multiple people in the next area. When that happens, I need you two to use your weapons to specifically target people. Your pokemon can protect you."

"Yes, sir," we said, and we moved on, passing over the person whom the Elite had killed. His skull was fractured apart, leaving brain matter strewn about the area. Marcus and I controlled our gag responses accordingly to prevent ourselves from retching.

"Good, now get your Weavile to blackout and go ahead to scout," the Elite told Marcus.

"You heard him. Blackout, see how many people are ahead," Marcus told his dark pokemon. The black and crimson feline rushed forward and disappeared into a pitch-dark cloud. We did not wait before Shiv returned to continue on, following Elite McGall upwards.

When we neared the tenth flat zone, Shiv returned. Elite McGall raised a hand for us to halt. Shiv used one of her long claws to cut four scratches into the ground in a spread-out formation. Then she made four more marks around them.

Elite Mcgall turned to us and said, "Here's our plan of action. Athena will provide cover in case we come under fire. She will also protect your pokemon. I will take the farthest person to the right. McAfee, you take the next over to the left, and Bradford, you take the next one over from that. Make your shots count so that we finish it as quickly as possible and so they don't release any more pokemon. Your pokemon will offer a defense against the pokemon already waiting. McAfee, I would refrain from using your dragon, as I suspect it may be too large to be effective down here. To catch them by surprise, I want you to use your ghost. Have it travel through the walls and hypnotize as many as possible, and then have it take out the person farthest to the left," he finished.

We nodded just as we heard, "Karl! You alright down there!?" shouted from ahead in a feminine voice.

"Quickly, Bradford, have your Weavile cover us in blackout and McAfee, kill that light!" the Elite ordered us. Lazarus's fur darkened, leaving us in darkness, then Shiv made us virtually invisible with her blackout. Inside the blackout I released Gilles and said, "Go ahead and hypnotize everyone you can. Then take out the person farthest to the left."

Gilles cackled in reply and zoomed into the wall. "Let's go!" the Elite ordered us quietly. We jogged up and just when the light from the level area started shining along the ground, we heard a shriek from Gilles, the roar of a few pokemon, and a couple yells. We hurried forward, and when we caught sight of the room, we saw that all of our targets were looking in the passage behind them, hypnotized in place.

"Now, fire, and drop the blackout!" the Elite ordered. I took aim and fired. Two arrows left the blackout and found their marks. Mine hit a person in the side of the neck and Marcus's hit his person in the side of the chest.

"Drop the blackout!" ordered the Elite once more, and Marcus looked down at Shiv, who let the black cloud drop. The Elite immediately flung a pebble at a woman farthest to the right. It had the same effect as the previous one, shooting out of his hand like a bullet and blasting the woman's head open. That left only the farthest man, in front of whom Gilles had materialized. As we ordered our pokemon to attack the other pokemon, Gilles slashed the man's throat.

The pokemon were now left without any direction, but they were also hypnotized in place. That did not last long. I ordered Lazarus to go for a helpless Raichu and Marcus ordered Shiv to attack a helpless Sandslash. Shiv and Lazarus aimed for lethal areas in their attacks, but the Sandslash managed to wake up and offer a counter-attack after being struck across the neck with icy claws. Lazarus used a brick break over the Raichu's skull, and it hit the ground. It woke up upon impact, but was stunned.

In the meantime, an Ampharos's neck snapped at a 90 degree angle at the Elite's Gardevoir's beckon. In Marcus's battle, the Sandslash's claws were hitting an invisible barrier around Shiv, who took two more slices to finish off her spiky enemy while Lazarus continued to pound into the Raichu until it no longer moved on the ground.

Lazarus and Shiv finished off their respective battles within two seconds of each other. By that time, the fourth pokemon – an enormous balloon-like Weezing floating near the ceiling – woke from its hypnosis and looked down at the destruction below.

"Take out that runner! Watch out! Hold your breath if it gases the area!" the Elite yelled.

"Marcus, Shiv's got the runner! Lazarus, thunderbolt on the Weezing!" I yelled, pointing. I could barely see the hidden pokemon running out of the room, but I noticed that it was a dark pokemon. I had never seen it before. I could tell it was a dark pokemon because of the way the darkness warped around it. Furthermore, I felt that it was only possible for a dark-type to hide from Gilles in such a confined area.

What I was able to see was a very flat-looking crocodile zipping along the floor in the back towards the next incline. Shiv surged towards it with orders from Marcus, issuing a feline hiss while Lazarus let loose a bolt of lightning at the floating purple mass. To my surprise, the bolt of electricity loosed with such intensity that it was akin to a flash-bang grenade, which caused the Weezing to crash into the wall writhing in pain with a quarter of its purple body blackened.

"Shit!" Marcus and I yelled in unison. How had Lazarus been able to hit that hard underground and out of nowhere? Lazarus looked equally surprised by the power of his attack. My astonishment did not stop me from issuing a repeat order to Lazarus, however. Once again, to my amazement, his attack hit like the move Thunder.

This time, the Weezing seemed to shrink and plummet to the ground like a deflated balloon. As the gaseous pokemon loosed all of its air, Elite McGall yelled, "Hold your breath!" I did so, noting that my eyes began to sting. Athena then moved forward and spread her arms wide. I felt a tangible wave of force pass over me as she moved her arms together.

A spherical expanse of discolored air began to coalesce as she collected the gas into a small psychic bubble right above the deflated Weezing. Meanwhile, Shiv was fighting the unknown dark scout, who continually attempted to escape. "You can breathe now. McAfee, have your Electabuzz hit the gas with a Thundershock."

I breathed out, suddenly grateful for the privilege to breathe freely. "Thundershock, Lazarus," I ordered. He issued the low-intensity attack, but it struck again with much more power than it should have. The shock hit the gas, which exploded in a controlled space that enveloped the pokemon beneath it.

After that, we all ran forward, hopping over the corpses, to find Shiv impaling the small black and dark brown crocodile-like pokemon through the neck from above with two long claws. The Elite looked at the pokemon and said, "Hmm, it's only a secondary evolution. They probably kept most of their heaviest hitters down here when they saw us coming and kept a small, fast lookout to keep them informed. Let's get going. We still have about ten more people to deal with."

"Alright," I responded. On our way through the next two sets of inclines, I asked the Elite, "Why are my Electabuzz's electrical moves so overpowered all of a sudden?"

"…The earth here is full of thunderstones," the Elite replied after a few moments of silence. "The stones increase the efficacy of electrical techniques used nearby…"

Something about how he replied did not sit well with me. It felt like he was hiding something, so I asked, "How would a group of people create havoc that would threaten national security in a place like this?"

"That's classified," he responded curtly, leaving me disappointed and frustrated. But I kept my frustrations to myself.

"How are you able to make those rocks move so fast?" Marcus asked, changing the topic.

The Elite seemed to think for a few seconds. "…My pokemon increase the velocity of the rocks when I throw them to simulate a gunshot. It's very effective."

"…So this place messes with psychics' teleportation, but not their telekinetics," Marcus said out loud in thought.

"Wrong. My team is just strong enough to compensate through the interference," the Elite replied curtly. "Let's cut the chit-chat. We have a job to do." I decided that the Elite purposefully wanted silence so that he did not have to try to answer our questions. It was mildly frustrating.

It seemed like we had gone half a mile more upwards inside the mountain when we reached a fork in the tunnel. Each tunnel had the same degree of incline in separate directions. Elite McGall stopped in front of them in thought. His Gardevoir's yellow eyes glowed in communication with him.

Eventually, after a couple minutes, the Elite said to us, "I think I know what's going on here and it looks like we're going to need to take both paths. If what I think is happening is true, there's a joint operation occurring, since it would take too long to create a diversionary path. Of course if that is the case, then we can always regroup. But, if the former is true, then we need to take out both operations. There is only one reason to take two tunnels up in my opinion. There will probably be an opening at some point. If there is, do not exit the tunnels unless absolutely necessary. And if you do, do not release any steel-type pokemon. It would probably be equally important not to use any psychics. Just take down the operation and meet me back here; I will do the same down the other path. Those are your orders."

"Yes, sir," we replied. Without answering, he jogged through the opening on the left into the darkness with Athena lighting the way beside him.

"Let's go," I said, and Marcus followed me into the other passage after Lazarus charged the generator.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Almost half an hour had passed. We had gone over a mile by my estimation and we had not found any trace of an operation. I had lost count of the checkpoints we had reached by now, but I noticed that the incline had steadily become shallower. During that time, I became very aware that Fred did not participate in any way. I knew he was nearby, but he chose to remain completely aloof of the operation. I was starting to wonder if we would ever reach the end of the mine when I caught a glimpse of light coming from ahead.

Knowing that we may run into enemies, I said to Marcus, "I think it would be a good idea to have Shiv blackout from here on out. I can see light up ahead."

"You can? Your eyes must be much better than mine because I only see the light coming from Lazarus," Marcus said. He then told Shiv to black us out and we were enveloped by the darkness.

It took us another 100 feet before we found the new source of light. It was a fork in the tunnel that led to an opening around 100 feet away through which light from the sun shone. Immediately upon reaching the fork, the static in the air increased ten-fold and all of my hair stood on end. I felt like I was standing under the striking point of a lightning bolt.

Remembering what the Elite had told us, I said to Marcus, "We can't go out unless absolutely necessary. Though to be honest, I don't know if I even want to. We need to continue up the other slope."

"Ugh. It feels like I'm inside a battery," he replied, shuddering.

"And, just in case, you should have Ironhide stay here. Don't need anyone sneaking up on us. I'm going to have Gilles scout for us, too," I said, pulling out Gilles' pokeball and releasing him.

"Good idea," responded Marcus, releasing his Rhyhorn behind us.

"I think from here on out Lazarus should only light himself up instead of using the generators. Gilles, scout ahead and come back if you find anyone," I told him. He quickly zoomed away with a cackle. We took the fork that led further into the mountain at an angle away from the opening.

The mineshaft gradually curved to the left and then leveled out after around 200 feet. Then it continued for another near quarter of a mile until I could see the glint of light far down the path and Gilles returned to me, revealing his presence with a quiet giggle. "Hold," I whispered. "Gilles is back."

"How many people?" I asked him. He held up five shadowy fingers. "And pokemon?" He held up another three. "Ok, we've got five people and three pokemon ahead. I think we should hit hard and fast to catch them by surprise and damage them as quickly as possible."

"Sounds like as good a plan as any," Marcus told me.

"Where are they?" I asked Gilles, and he made two X's on the ground, one on each side of the tunnel. Then he made another two circles in front of them, and a circle in the middle of the path behind them. "And the other three people?" I asked. Gilles pointed down the path, indicating that they were farther back.

"Right, here's the plan: we use Shiv and Rufus. Aside from Lazarus, they are the quickest. We sneak up blacked out, and as soon as we take out the trainers, they will jump the pokemon," I explained. Then I released Rufus, who looked around the dark tunnel excitedly. "Shiv and Rufus, when we take out the people, you two need to gang up on a single pokemon to the left or right and take it out as quickly as possible. Then team up against the one in the back. Gilles will take out the other one up front. I will assign you the targets when we know what we're up against. After you're finished with it, Gilles, hypnotize any remaining people or pokemon. After Marcus and I eliminate the people, we will stand watch for any others. Lazarus, you're on defense. Got it?"

Rufus, Lazarus, and Shiv nodded. "Good. Marcus, you good, too?"

"Dandy," he replied sarcastically. "Let's do this."

Lazarus allowed his fur to once again darken, leaving us without light, but I could see the flicker of light up ahead. Then both Rufus and Shiv plunged the area into utter darkness. From there, we moved as a unit with our weapons drawn through the dark curving mineshaft until we could make out the shadows of our targets.

True to Gilles' recon, there were two people standing guard just inside a larger, more open area into which the tunnel fed. There were two powerful pokemon in front of them; a Machamp on the left and an Electivire on the right. If that was not formidable enough, the pokemon in the center behind everyone made my blood run cold. It was a full-sized Rhydon. Even though we were moving as quietly as we could, the Rhydon jerked its head toward us. It could not see us, but it could either smell us, hear us, or feel us through seismic detection via the rock under our feet. I guessed it was the latter-most reason.

I quickly pointed to Shiv and Rufus, and then at the Electivire. Then I pointed at Gilles, pointed at my eyes to indicate his order to hypnotize, and then at the Rhydon. I followed that by pointing at the Machamp. Meanwhile, the Ryhdon's reaction had the people looking down the mineshaft nervously and taking out flashlights. Marcus and I then aimed our bows. On my whistle, we loosed the arrows.

To our dismay, both of our arrows were knocked out of the air. The quick reflexes of the powerful pokemon in front allowed them to react faster than the missiles could reach their targets. But while they reacted to our volley, our pokemons sprang into action.

"Rush-and-Pulse," I ordered, while Marcus did the same. Rufus and Shiv sprinted ahead beside each other, but Rufus disappeared beside her and melded with the darkness, as per our training. He surged ahead and slammed into the strong electric pokemon while Shiv bounded to the wall beside it and issued a wicked Night Slash along its rib cage, drawing lines of blood. Rufus followed up with a point-blank concentrated Dark Pulse which impacted it in the stomach and knocked it back.

Meanwhile, Gilles had appeared just in front of the Rhydon and was staring it down with paranormal eyes, keeping it still. The Machamp, however, did not stand idly by. It charged toward us with reckless abandon, its four arms swinging erratically. Before it reached us, though, I yelled, "Lazarus, thunderbolt!" while extending another arrow.

Lazarus obeyed, sending a powerful bolt of electricity surging through the charging fighting type with a _Bzzt-Crack!_ In a crazy fluke of luck, the bolt of electricity passed through the Machamp and impacted the man standing behind it. The man froze in place, shuddering with smoke rising from his burned fingers for several seconds before he fell over.

Before he could hit the ground, though, Marcus and I fired arrows at the other person once again. This time, both arrows connected – mine in the man's chest and Marcus's in his gut. All the while, I yelled, "Again, Lazarus! Rufus, pulse again!"

Marcus yelled out beside me, "Shiv, Quick Claw Metal!" Rufus and Shiv ruthlessly double-teamed the Electivire, but it managed to swing an electrical fist in self-defense. When it connected with Rufus, he was thrown back with the sound of a _CRASH! _echoing down the mineshaft from the electrical surge it unleashed. Rufus struggled to get to his feet while Shiv finished off the powerful electric feline with a swift metal claw to the back of its neck.

While that happened, Lazarus sent another overpowered bolt of electricity through the Machamp, which then fell to a knee as its muscles twitched uncontrollably. When that happened, the bolt of electricity carried farther into the room and hit something, causing a small explosion. All of the light in the room immediately died, but not before I saw Gilles materialize behind the helpless Machamp, a sadistic grin stretched across his face, and raise his claws menacingly.

That left the Rhydon, who no doubt was seconds from waking up. Rufus hobbled over to me, seemingly much more affected by the Electivire's Thunderpunch than I had estimated. I quickly recalled him while saying to Marcus, "Snapjaw and Ceto!" I sent out Ceto, even though I was nervous about using her when the electricity was so much more potent in the area. But the Rhydon was too dangerous to try to take on without a water type.

"Hydro Pump!" Marcus and I yelled in unison, right as the Rhydon shook off its hypnosis and roared. The reverberations from its bellow were jarring in such a confined space. Two separate super-condensed jets of water surged into the behemoth, throwing it onto its side. It got back to its feet quickly with another roar and started charging towards the hall, taking up most of the space with its hulking figure.

"Again!" we yelled, and two more jets of water struck the beast, but it did not falter again. Once it reached the entrance of the hall, it stumbled, though, and fell forward. It had an icy gash along its right knee. Shiv was almost instantly on top of the creature, stabbing into it with icy claws.

"Again!" I yelled, following up with, "Gilles, Energy Ball!" Two more jets of water surged into to the prone Rhydon, blasting away some of its thick armored hide. Then, out of the darkness, a translucent green orb shot into the back of its head and disintegrated a small portion of it, leaving a weak spot through into which Shiv plunged her icy claws. The great beast shuddered and then fell limp.

With a shake of my head, I released a breath that I did not realize I had been holding in, and I heard Marcus do the same. "Well done!" I exclaimed. "But we aren't done yet. There are still three more people up ahead somewhere. Gilles should be hypnotizing them. Let's go!"

Marcus and I rushed forward, quickly returning our water pokemon after brief, yet sincere, congratulations. I ordered Lazarus to light up, and he cast a glow around the room upon our entrance. It was a larger hollowed-out cave-like room which stretched on for a couple hundred feet. A generator lay smoldering, and less than ten feet to the side of it, along the wall to the left, was strung a line of explosives. They looked to be bundles of dynamite bound in dark-gray containers with a heavily-insulated wire running from each. The wires all linked up and led further into the cavern.

After a brief pause in which Marcus and I took in the scene with horror, we noticed flashlights waving erratically farther back. We also noticed, due to Lazarus's glow, a hub where all of the explosives led. On that hub was a mechanical ticker that read 35:23, 35:22,… In another brief moment of horror, I realized it was counting down.

Marcus also realized that because he yelled, "Shiv, take out the rest of the people now!" There did not seem to be any more pokemon around, which meant that the people were relatively helpless. When we ran through the cave, we noticed that the explosives became more and more shoddily attached to the walls, as if they had been hastily installed.

As we neared the edge of the cavern, we found the three men standing in front of the wall hypnotized. Shiv was in the middle of slicing one man's throat while Gilles plunged a hardened claw into another man's chest. In front of the men were boxes of explosives waiting to be adhered to the rock wall. When Shiv finished with the man, she went on to the last, but I stopped her. "Wait!" I called. "Keep him alive!"

"What?" Marcus asked incredulously.

"Do you know how to disarm these?" I asked him urgently.

"Oh," he replied sheepishly.

"You can hamstring him, though," I said. I was not about to give him a chance to escape.

"Perfect," Marcus remarked as he motioned to Shiv. She sliced the back of the man's ankles, who woke from his hypnosis with a pained cry. I rushed over to him, grabbed him by the collar, and said to his face, "Listen here you scumbag. Tell me how to disarm these bombs or I will have my ghost here give you a new hole to breathe out of!"

The man only laughed through his tears. "Do you think I fear death, whelp?" he asked me. "Our job is pretty much finished. I can rest easy now."

"Not as easy as you think!" I yelled at him. "If you don't tell us NOW, your tongue will leave your mouth!" I had lost all patience.

He laughed again through his tears. With a curse, I motioned to Gilles who used a shadow ball to turn the man's head into ash. When I looked to Marcus, he only wore an expression of acceptance. "Shit bro, how are we going to stop this?"

I looked around in thought before saying, "If we can't disarm it all, we'll throw it out of the mine! I don't see another option here. I think this qualifies for McGall's 'no other option' contingency."

"Good plan. How are we going to get all this out?" he asked.

"With those," I replied, pointing to a pair of wheelbarrows.

"Right," he replied. "Let's get to work."

I nodded and set about detaching the explosives from the wall and carefully transporting them back to the wheelbarrows with Marcus. We made sure not to sever the lines, with the intention to push both side-by-side. However, things do not always go as planned.

As we neared the final few explosives, Shiv let out a hiss. We all turned to see a black pokemon, similar to the crocodile-like one we encountered earlier but larger, standing over the hub. With a dark flourish, it cut one of the lines with one of its claws. The countdown went from 24:53 to 1:30 instantly, leaving Marcus and I standing in utter shock.

"C-Can we-" Marcus asked, but I cut him off.

"No, we can't! Run!" I yelled.

Adrenaline kicked in and we sprinted out of the cavern, but we had around a quarter of a mile to cover in a minute and a half. I pulled ahead of Marcus early, but I slowed down just enough for him to keep up. Gilles floated beside us giggling maniacally, Shiv ran ahead of us, and Lazarus followed from the rear. I chose not to recall him in case we were followed by the dark pokemon, or any enemy pokemon for that matter.

The walls passed by in a blurry, panicked haze which vaguely reminded me of the first time I ran from Azrael in his burrow. The light from Lazarus was enough to show us where we were headed. I hardly thought as a minute passed in feverish sprinting.

Nearly all of our time was up when I saw light coming from the fork in the mineshaft ahead. As we approached, Marcus yelled, "Run, Ironhide!" The Rhyhorn turned on its heels and ran toward the light.

The next moments passed in such a blur that it is difficult to recall. All I know is that the results of those moments left me with scars for the rest of my life.

We turned the corner, heaving with exertion. Just as we made it halfway to the exit, the ground shook. With another rush of adrenaline, we frantically scrambled towards the exit. Ironhide and Shiv flew from the tunnel first as it started collapsing. All I remember is being shoved so hard that I flew out of the tunnel right as it caved in.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

I fell down a shallow slope, noting how my ears popped with the overwhelming feeling of static around me. I could feel tiny shocks passing through my raised hair as I rolled to a halt. Before I could recover, Marcus ran into me and jarred me even more.

I pushed him off of me and stood up, trying to get my bearings. When I looked around, I saw Gilles silently looking back the way I had fallen. I quickly and devastatingly realized that Lazarus was nowhere to be seen.

"Lazarus!" I yelled, running back up the slope. "LAZARUS!"

I reached the collapsed entrance of the mineshaft and tried to look in, but I could not see anything through the rubble. I pulled out Lazarus's pokeball violently and pressed the return button, but nothing happened. "Gilles!" I yelled. "Where is Lazarus!? Did he make it out!?"

Gilles only floated beside me and pointed a sharp claw at the entrance of the mine. "Lazarus…" I said quietly, feeling my eyes warming. I fell to my knees, staring through tears at the rubble, not knowing what to do.

I don't know how long I knelt there, not wanting to believe what had happened was true. But I eventually felt a hand on my shoulder. "Zach…" Marcus's voice rang, somehow distant to me.

"He's gone…" I sobbed.

"He pushed us out of the tunnel right as it caved in," Marcus said quietly, his voice still distant. "He saved us."

The reality set in. Lazarus had not escaped the mine. I could not help but sob uncontrollably. All of our time together training; all of our hopes, dreams, and plans for greatness; were all gone. They lay in a cruel heap of rubble on a distant mountain.

My mourning was cut short. "Zach, you need to see this…" Marcus said from behind me, and his voice came into focus. My initial impulse was to round on him angrily for disrupting and distracting me from that sad pile of rock. But when I turned around, he was shuffling down the slope and looking inward.

I followed his gaze to see that we were in a crater, in which was a vast lake around two miles in diameter. What caught my gaze, though, and which for a moment made me forget about the tragedy at hand, was a small island in the center of the lake. And on that island was a large golden mass. At our distance, it looked to be over a hundred feet tall, and it sat on a latticework of silver and bronze.

I followed Marcus down the slope until we were near the water. Even from our distance, I could make out one vital feature: the golden mass was moving. The top of the mass seemed to rotate as if looking around. Then, the golden mass expanded in two different directions, like an impossibly large bird spreading its wings. And only after that did it hit me.

I was looking at a creature of legend; something with the power to cause untold devastation; something that had remained hidden for centuries, lending its existence only to myth. The wings of the mighty Zapdos were brought back close to its body, as if it were only stretching. Enraptured by the beauty and majesty of the god-like pokemon in front of us, Marcus and I slowly stepped even closer to the water.

Suddenly, a loud voice rang out. "STOP, YOU FOOLS!" Marcus and I halted and looked around. Elite McGall was running alongside the slope towards us. Behind him, Balthazar and Athena were standing down from a large hole in the side of the mountain, psychically setting a few very large rocks down on the slope safely. "If you touch that water, you'll be electrocuted! You'll die instantly!"

We stopped nearly two feet from the edge of the water, which was unnaturally still. "That's…" I said, still in shock from Lazarus's death and seeing a creature from legend.

"It's Zapdos," snapped the Elite. "You wanna tell me what the hell happened?"

Marcus spoke. "We didn't know how to disarm the bombs so we were going to throw them out the side of the mountain. We were in the middle of loading them into a couple wheelbarrows when a little black pokemon cut one of the wires and the timer fell. His Electabuzz didn't make it out."

The Elite's brow eased. "At least _you_ both made it out," he said, almost sounding disappointed. "As it is, the side of the mountain blew out, but we stopped any large boulders from hitting the water. My guess is they were trying to create a wave from both sides to disturb Zapdos. The boulders that blew away from the mountain were also much smaller than expected, which is probably due to the fact that you gathered them in one place instead of letting them blow the wall, so well done there. Did you eliminate all of the targets? I had five, so five more must have been down your path."

"We killed five," Marcus replied.

"Good," the Elite replied. He turned to me and said, "I'm sorry for your loss. But we must stay here no longer. Our presence will be seen as an affront to the great storm raptor if we linger. The fact that she has not killed us already is beyond lucky."

With that said, both Balthazar and Athena teleported to the Elite's side. "Wait," I said. I looked back at the mountain, longing for Lazarus to pull himself out somehow. I knew he was gone; he did not return to his pokeball when I tried to recall him. But that did not mean I could not retrieve his body.

I released Azrael, who looked around upon appearing. His gaze was inevitably drawn to the center of the lake, and he regarded the sight reverently. He quickly realized something was wrong, though. He noticed mine and Gilles' demeanor and immediately bared his teeth.

"McAfee, we do not have time for this!" the Elite exclaimed.

"I will not leave Lazarus here to rot!" I shot back, raising my voice, not caring about the fact that I was yelling, or that it was towards a member of the Elite 4.

An angry frown grew across the Elite's face, and I immediately felt pressure forming around my neck, making it difficult to breathe. Azrael and Gilles did not take kindly to that. Gilles soared towards the Elite, but was intercepted by a powerful Shadow Ball from Balthazar, which blasted through him, making him scream and fall into an ectoplasmic pool. Azrael roared furiously and charged the Elite threateningly. He froze in place before he could make it very far, courtesy of Athena, and roared again. This caused the Elite to look back at the center of the crater in alarm.

The Elite returned his gaze to me and released his psychic hold over my throat. Seething, he said, "Make it quick." Marcus then disappeared with Balthazar.

I returned Gilles to his ball, rubbing my neck resentfully. Then I turned to my companion, who was now released from his telepathic prison, and said, "Azrael, please retrieve Lazarus. He's there." I pointed at the collapsed mine entrance. Azrael shot Athena a nasty snarl, then gave a mournful lament and climbed the slope toward the mine, whereupon he tore into the rock.

As I watched him, my forearm arm started to itch. I raised my forearm to see the blue mark given to me by the Milotic of Lake Soendrad glowing from under my skin. Right next to it appeared a golden square with a tendril of lightning stretching from one corner to the opposite. With a gasp, I looked back to the center of the lake.

For a split-second, my vision intensified. I saw into an ancient fiery-golden eye underneath golden feathers with bolts of lightning passing between them. I felt the sensation of my hair being pulled harder by the static in the air for a second before the electric wave subsided. Then my vision returned to normal just as I heard a lamenting roar.

The two marks on my arm faded into my skin and I quietly thanked the thunder god. Azrael sauntered down the slope towards me, holding a mass of red and yellow fur in his winged claw. One look at Lazarus's body brought waves of warm tears flooding my eyes.

Before I knew it, the scenery changed from the lake to the grassy meadow at the base of the mountain. We all now stood facing each other. The 3rd Elite wasted no time addressing us with a serious frown.

"That went about as well as could be expected, though the secret of Zapdos' whereabouts is now known to you both. With this knowledge comes the burden of keeping it secret. The League knows that the information can be retrieved psychically from your minds, but if you refrain from mentioning this incident in general, the odds of someone suspecting something will be diminished. This is serious."

The Elite clasped his hands behind his back. "You are now in possession of top secret information. If you decide to divulge this information, the League will take appropriate action in the name of national security. The last thing we need is people trying to catch, photograph, see, or otherwise bother a creature that could lay ruin to large swaths of the country. Are we clear?"

Marcus and I nodded, though I was still distraught. "Elite McGall," Marcus asked. "The fact that electricity is intensified throughout this area is not because of thunderstones, is it?"

"No, it's not," replied the Elite, finally giving some answers.

"Then what about teleportation? Your pokemon seemed to be able to teleport us out easily enough," he pressed.

"I didn't need your psychics sensing the Legendary's presence," the Elite responded, still frowning. "Whereas I know the efficacy of psychics in a battle well enough, you seemed to make do just as well without them."

This made me realize something that instantly sent shivers of fury down my spine. "…So you're saying that we could have teleported out of the mine; that we could have avoided running and narrowly escaping while Lazarus died!?" I asked, my voice steadily rising.

"Keeping the presence of Zapdos a secret is worth dying for!" snapped the Elite. "And I would watch my tone if I were you. Remember who you are speaking to; it's up to my discretion how to deal with insubordination in the middle of an operation."

I was seething; shaking in my boots, but I kept my voice level. "We had no choice but to leave the mine. If we were going to encounter Zapdos anyway, Lazarus could have been saved."

"Perhaps, he might have. But that is not for you to decide, _Corporal_," the Elite said, emphasizing my rank. "Your orders were to complete the mission within the parameters I established. Your pokemon's life was a small price to pay for stopping the Triumvirate from unleashing the wrath of a legendary creature. You cannot even fathom the devastation Zapdos can wreak!"

"My pokemons' lives are no small price!" I yelled, losing my temper.

"Silence, Corporal!" the Elite ordered. I opened my mouth to respond, but I could hear no sound. Taken aback, I tried to say something else, but once again, no sound escaped. "That's better. Now listen up, _Corporal_. Today's events are not to be shared with _anyone._ You will need to create a believable story about your Electabuzz's death. This is not up for debate. I understand that your companion is dead; it was unfortunate and you have my condolences. But this is a hazard we face in the League, and especially the Ranger Corps. If you cannot deal with the possibility, then I advise you to find a new vocation."

With that said, the Elite motioned to his pokemon. Marcus looked like he wanted to say something, but he remained silent. "You may lay your pokemon to rest as you see fit, but return to your outpost as soon as you're finished. And McAfee, be ready to put your mind training to the test soon."

He disappeared thereafter, leaving me standing heartbroken next to Azrael and Marcus. "That son of a bitch…" I said, finding myself capable of speaking.

"If you need help with anything, Zach, let me know," Marcus said sullenly.

"Thanks," I sighed, but did not ask anything of him. I then released all of my pokemon, who mourned in their respective ways. Even though Saraph did not show much emotion, even she looked a little melancholy. After I said my goodbyes, and thanked my friend, I laid him to rest. Azrael dug a hole and we placed him gently at the bottom. With a heavy heart and free-flowing tears, I buried him.

When I finished, I stood over the fresh earth in quiet contemplation. He came to me broken after not being able to keep his previous trainer from death. I knew he constantly felt guilty for it. When he saved me, he likely released himself from that guilt, which gave me a little comfort.

Even though Lazarus was not Marcus's pokemon, Marcus stood by with me throughout my grieving. And even though I did not voice it, I was grateful for his presence. He stood beside me above Lazarus's final resting place as the sun gradually fell behind the mountains.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

_Zach,_

_Tough break, kid. I know losing a friend is difficult. Don't let it break you. If you need anything, let me know._

_-Aoro_

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

_Dear Zach,_

_Lazarus is dead!? No! I know it's a stupid question, but are you alright? I can't believe he's gone… What happened? How? I've been kept busy here, but I'm going to have Shade port me to Cerulean as soon as we can. I'll let you know when I plan on getting in._

_-Sheila_

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

_Dear Zachariah,_

_Your mother and I are heartbroken to hear about Lazarus. You know we will do what we can to help. Just let us know what we can do. If you need some time away, you can always come home. It might be healthy for you to spend some time with your family, and with the Houndoom and Houndour. Keep in touch. _

_-Patrick and Francine_

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) –

_Dear Zachariah,_

_My condolences for your loss. You have been given two weeks paid leave to mourn your fallen friend, but I cannot postpone the Battle Cell operation any further. It will be undertaken regardless of your absence. While this is unfortunate, since you've been receiving specialized training specifically for this mission, someone with expertise in this field will be replacing you. I do not wish to aggrieve you with this information; I am only keeping you updated. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future for you to utilize your training. Until then, I hope to see you well next we meet. _

_-Leader Katherine Holmes_

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Elite McGall had communed with Leader Holmes, who in turn met with my commanding officer in Cerulean, to give me a two-week paid leave to mourn Lazarus. Although he showed empathy in helping me get time off, the Elite had forever lost my trust. It was because of him that Lazarus died. By ordering us not to use psychic pokemon, he limited our means of escape, and it was because of that limitation that Lazarus did not escape the mountain.

I was unbearably sad, but I was insatiably angry; angry with the Elite and angry at myself for not searching the cave for any hiding pokemon. My sadness and anger were deepened with self-loathing at the realization of my role in his death.

"You're really reaching for that one, bro," Marcus told me when I opened up to him, standing above Lazarus's grave. "Even if you _had_ searched for that little fucker, there's no guarantee you would've found it. Didn't you see the way it burrowed into the wall? It might have been hiding there the whole time. It might have even entered the cave after we did. You can't blame yourself."

"That's just it. It _might _have been. It also _might _have just been hiding in a corner. But we'll never know," I had answered, shaking.

"Thinking about what might have been will drive you mad, Zach," he had told me. "What you can look at is what we know caused what. We made the decision to load up the bombs because we had no other way of getting them out as far as we knew. _That _is on McGall. We had no idea how the bombs worked and that dark pokemon disrupted our plan. That is on _that pokemon_."

I had gone silent after that and Marcus had just let me be. In my heart I knew he was right, but I kept thinking that there was more I could have done.

I decided to take my mother and father up on their offer and return home for the duration of my leave. I quickly sent Sheila a message letting her know that I was heading home before I called my father and informed him of my decision. Marcus went home as well, taking advantage of the joint leave that he was awarded.

When I arrived, I was given a big hug by my mother. My father put his hand on my shoulder as well. I felt my eyes warm, but I stifled any tears from forming because I did not want to embarrass myself in front of my parents by breaking down. Frieda, the Torchic, and Pako, the Numel, were also aware of the gloomy atmosphere. Frieda jumped on my shoulder to rub against my cheek and Pako snuggled up against my leg. I thanked them and released my team in the vicinity except for Saraph. There was a transparent air of melancholy settled over them.

While I was home, my team stayed close to me. Even Gilles seemed to linger around me, and Ceto forsook her comfortable pool to keep me company. At night, Azrael slept outside nearby while everyone else slept around my bed. During the day, we engaged in intense training exercises to keep our minds off of our loss.

On the day I arrived, I also visited my Houndoom and Houndour puppies. They seemed content with their lives. The Houndoom mothers were constantly busy looking after their litters while Molotov seemed to have a mixture of contented and irritated moods. He probably did not appreciate his new caged life as opposed to his old free life. But he was kept fed and he had a new pack to preside over when Rufus was not around. His irritation was more due to the new pups' relentless cries for his attention, which he begrudgingly dealt with for the sake of keeping a presence over his pack.

The Houndour pups were just starting to develop their fire abilities, so there were small scorch marks everywhere within their section of the enclosure. When I arrived with Rufus, Molotov looked to be threatened. I was worried that Rufus would need to reestablish dominance over the moody pack leader, but to my luck, he seemed relieved to have the attention of the Houndour pups focused on someone else for a change.

And the pups were still trusting and playful, so they swarmed me, my mother, and Rufus once we entered the enclosure. They were nipping, so I received a few cuts on my legs and arms from their small sharp teeth, but I was luckily able to avoid being burned. In spite of their tendency to nip, it was difficult to stay depressed when a dozen puppies were wrestling on me.

My mother had the same level of control over the Houndoom as I did, which was somewhat surprising. I knew that she naturally worked well with them, but I did not expect her to have the level of control over them that I had. It was very convenient for me that she was as competent as she was, because I could rest assured that they were in good hands while I was away.

The next morning, Sheila arrived, looking downcast and sympathetic. She gave me a hug and I told her about Lazarus's death. "I was on a mission in some mountain tunnels, under orders from our 3rd Elite to take out some terrorists. They set explosives to detonate inside the mountain while we were still in there trying to defuse them. Lazarus pushed us out of the tunnels while they were collapsing."

I left out most of the details, but she seemed a bit suspicious. "Something bothers me about that," she said after I finished the story and she had taken it in. "Why didn't you have Dante teleport you out?"

"The elite forbade us from using psychic-type pokemon because he didn't want them interfering with his team," I spat. "There were two separate cells and we were taking them out simultaneously."

Sheila noticed my resentment. "I'm not an expert on psychics but I don't think it would have been a big deal… Is there more to the story I'm not getting? That seems like a very insignificant reason to keep you from using a psychic pokemon."

"There is, but I can't talk about it," I said, sighing. She was very perceptive. "And no, I don't think it excused the Elite's decision to limit our use of psychics."

"Why can't you talk about it?" she asked, though she looked like she already knew the answer.

"It's not that I am incapable of talking about it emotionally," I explained. "It's literally classified information that I'm not at liberty to share."

"Oh," Sheila replied, looking like she had expected that answer. "I figured as much, but I wanted to know just in case. If you need someone to talk to about it, I'm here."

"There's nothing that can be said," I told her. "The League values its secrets more than it does the lives of pokemon under its officers. And Elite McGall sure as hell didn't value the lives of my team." Perhaps that was too much information to give, but Sheila did not pursue more information.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Zach," she said sympathetically. "I don't know how I would react if I felt someone was responsible for the death of one of my team members."

"I don't know what to do about it…" I murmured. "I thought the Elite was trying to help me become better, but now all I think he cares about is finishing missions without care for the cost. I thought we were supposed to be protecting people and pokemon, but he didn't seem too concerned about me or my team."

"…I suppose he believed this secret was worth the life of a ranger's pokemon," she said in thought.

"That's what he said to me, basically. But it wasn't worth it to me," I said, my voice cracking.

Sheila sighed. "I'm not going to defend him. I don't know his true rationale for making the decisions he made, but I don't think Lazarus's life was expendable."

I sullenly nodded in agreement. There was nothing left to say.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

The next week passed by in a blur of training on our property. It seemed like there was always something that needed improvement. Always something that could take my mind off of the fact that Lazarus was no longer present.

When I was not training, I was taking care of my part of the family business. Selling the pokemon I caught while on the job helped me afford the cost of feeding my hellhounds. My father also discussed with me the name of our business – MacAfee Infernal Competitors – which he felt needed fixing. To him it seemed like a mouthful with bad flow. When I asked him if he had any alternative ideas, he gave me a few. The ones that stood out to me were the MacAfee Fire Grotto, the MacAfee Fire Forest, and the MacAfee Fire Enclave.

While I like our old name, I agreed that it was somewhat ungainly. So, we officially changed the name of our business to MacAfees' Fire Grotto.

Sheila also stayed with me, but she gave me my space when I was training with my team. At the end of the first week, I realized that the Battle Cell operation was imminent. Not knowing exactly what date it was scheduled for, I watched the news every night for word on how it went.

On the second day of August, the story finally aired. A reporter was standing outside a seedy bar saying, "Just hours ago, League rangers and police stormed this seemingly unremarkable bar in what was described to me as an illegal pokemon battling ring bust gone wrong. Eyewitness reports say that a commotion was heard from inside before a dozen law enforcement officials stormed in."

I immediately stiffened at the statement. The reporter then turned to ranger on the scene and asked him, "Can you explain a little more about what happened here?"

The man wore a tired and somber expression. "Our initial team went in first to find evidence of a Battle Cell, but the operation went south quickly. Many of our men lost their lives."

"And did you apprehend any of the criminals responsible?" the reporter asked.

"Unfortunately no. Our investigation showed that the Battle Cell, or what we were led to believe was one, had been completely cleared by the time the second team came in to back them up. We believe it was the work of psychic pokemon."

My heart fell as the story unfolded. I was sure that there was more information being withheld, but the gist was that the operation had failed. It seemed to me that, if the Battle Cell was cleared out that quickly, then it was never there to begin with; which meant that the Battle Cell operators knew about the operation.

The worst of the news came when the reporter listed the names of the killed officers. When he said, "Christopher Johnson," both Sheila and I gasped in horror.

"Chris…? Chris is dead…?" Sheila said disbelievingly.

I had no words to answer her with. I only sat there gawking at the television as the news continued. My heart hurt. While I bore a much greater pain in my chest for Lazarus, and while Chris and I did not part on the most amicable of terms, we had been through a lot and I could still call him my friend. But not anymore.

One name I did not hear mentioned, which filled me with a rage, was Alexander. I knew he was part of the operation, but his name was not mentioned. Knowing absolutely nothing, I still could not help but immediately blame him for the failure of the operation. Who else could it have been?

As I seethed in my seat, Sheila quietly cried beside me. I would find out what happened, and I would make whoever was responsible for this pay dearly.

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

**Current PokeDex Update**

**Expert Trainer: Zachariah MacAfee; KA523VI979E; Corporal, Ranger Corps.**

**Active Pokemon: **

Azrael – Garchomp

Gilles – Haunter

Rufus – Houndoom

Ceto – Seadra

Dante – Gallade

**Pokemon in Preparation:**

Saraph – Charizard

**Appropriated Pokemon:**

Fred – Dusclops

**Trainer: Marcus Bradford; KA734PE349; Private First Class, Ranger Corps.**

**Active Pokemon:**

Snapjaw – Blastoise

Leif – Meganium

Shiv – Weavile

Hypno – Hypno

Ironhide – Rhyhorn

Rath – Pidgeotto

**Pokemon in Preparation:**

Magnemite – Magnemite

\- (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) - (-o-) -

Author's Note: Hi everyone. I'm entering the part of the story that I've been planning for a long time now. Lazarus has passed, but he died a hero and redeemed himself. Perfect tragic death in my book. I originally wanted to write about more in this chapter, but the mines took much longer to narrate than I had anticipated. Anyway, if Lazarus's death affected you as much as it did me, then my heart goes out to you. And same with Chris. He had not been present for a while, but he was still a character I fleshed out somewhat. Please comment your laments. Or leave a general review, too; it's always very much appreciated.


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